Abe's election triumph, humiliation for Noda
Source: Agencies |
December 17, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
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Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party stormed back to power yesterday after three years in opposition, according to exit polls.
The results were a sharp rebuke for the Democratic Party of Japan amid unhappiness about its failure to get the economy going.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda resigned as party chief last night, calling the results "extremely severe." The DPJ, which won in a landslide three years ago amid high hopes for change, captured fewer than 100 seats.
The victory means that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead the nation after a one-year stint in 2006-2007.
Abe, 58, characterized the win as more of a protest vote against the DPJ than an endorsement of his party.
"I think the results do not mean we have regained the public's trust 100 percent. Rather, they reflect 'no-votes' to the DPJ's politics that stalled everything the past three years," he told public broadcaster NHK. "Now we are facing the test of how we can live up to the public's expectations, and we have to answer that question."
Exit polls projected that the LDP, which ruled Japan for most of the post-World War II era until 2009, won between 275 and 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament. Official results are due this morning.
The LDP will stick with its long-time partnership with the Komeito, a Buddhist-backed party, to form a coalition government, said Yoshihide Suga, deputy secretary general of the party.
Voters appeared to back the LDP's vows to build a stronger, more assertive country. Abe has repeatedly said he will protect Japan's "territory and beautiful seas" amid a dispute with China over the Diaoyu Islands.
The results were a sharp rebuke for the Democratic Party of Japan amid unhappiness about its failure to get the economy going.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda resigned as party chief last night, calling the results "extremely severe." The DPJ, which won in a landslide three years ago amid high hopes for change, captured fewer than 100 seats.
The victory means that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead the nation after a one-year stint in 2006-2007.
Abe, 58, characterized the win as more of a protest vote against the DPJ than an endorsement of his party.
"I think the results do not mean we have regained the public's trust 100 percent. Rather, they reflect 'no-votes' to the DPJ's politics that stalled everything the past three years," he told public broadcaster NHK. "Now we are facing the test of how we can live up to the public's expectations, and we have to answer that question."
Exit polls projected that the LDP, which ruled Japan for most of the post-World War II era until 2009, won between 275 and 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament. Official results are due this morning.
The LDP will stick with its long-time partnership with the Komeito, a Buddhist-backed party, to form a coalition government, said Yoshihide Suga, deputy secretary general of the party.
Voters appeared to back the LDP's vows to build a stronger, more assertive country. Abe has repeatedly said he will protect Japan's "territory and beautiful seas" amid a dispute with China over the Diaoyu Islands.
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