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Japan opposition could win by a landslide: media
Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:42am EDT
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By Linda Sieg
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's opposition Democratic Party may be headed for a landslide election victory, trouncing the conservative party that has ruled for most of the past half-century, a leading newspaper said on Thursday.
The Democrats could win 300 of the 480 seats in parliament's lower house while the long-ruling Liberal Democrats may see their strength halved to around 150 seats, said the Asahi newspaper, based on a detailed survey of electoral districts ahead of the August 30 poll.
But the paper also said around 30 to 40 percent of voters in its survey of electoral districts had not revealed how they would vote while 25 percent might change their minds, so results could shift significantly in the final days.
Opinion polls have consistently shown the Democrats well ahead of the business-friendly Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), raising the prospect the LDP -- whose once-mighty political machine has been weakened by social and economic changes -- will lose power for only the second time in its 54-year history.
Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama, now looking likely to become the next prime minister, has pledged to put more money into consumers' hands to revive the economy, hold off on raising the 5 percent sales tax for four years and adopt a diplomatic stance less subservient to top security ally the United States.
A solid Democratic Party victory would end a deadlock in parliament, where the party and its allies already control the less powerful upper chamber.
A clear result would cheer financial markets as it would smooth policy-making as Japan shakes off a recession.
"The best scenario for the stock market would be where the Democratic Party scores a landslide victory and sets up a strong government, sparking hopes that Japan might change," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co Ltd.
BIG SPENDING PLANS
The Nikkei average climbed from Wednesday's three-week closing low, although financial markets were more focused on a rebound in Chinese shares and a surge in crude oil prices than on the election outlook.
"Whether the Democrats win or the LDP wins, you're still likely to have an accommodative monetary policy and the deficit's still likely to grow due to stimulus plans," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
"On the other hand, if the Democrats do win and it becomes a situation like (U.S. President Barack) Obama and Congress, it could be good in terms of getting policies passed."
Some market participants worry, however, that ambitious Democrat spending plans would inflate already sky-high public debt and push up long-term interest rates.
The Asahi said its survey showed the LDP, which had 300 seats ahead of the election, could be halved in strength in the powerful lower house, while its junior partner the New Komeito party was likely to stay at somewhere around 31 seats.
"If this trend continues, I think the results will be close to the Asahi's prediction," said Keio University professor Yasunori Sone. "Maybe not 300 seats (for the Democrats) but around 270 ... It would be hard for the LDP to turn it around." Continued...
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UPDATE 4-Japan opposition could win by a landslide - media
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