Japan's LDP wins landslide

TOKYO — Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi scored a political triumph Sunday as the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party headed for a landslide win in an election touted as a referendum on his push to privatize Japan's cash-swollen postal system.

Early Monday, public broadcaster NHK projected the LDP won 296 seats in parliament's 480-seat lawmaking lower house, far more than the 241 needed for a majority and the 249 seats it held when Koizumi dissolved the chamber Aug. 8. The most the party ever held was 300 of the body's then 512 seats in 1986.

Combined with the allied New Komei Party, the LDP-led ruling coalition would have more than 320 seats — a two-thirds majority that would let it override votes by the upper house, the body that blocked postal restructuring last month.

Official results were delayed by a minor counting error in one prefecture but were expected to be announced later today, election authorities said. The hotly fought election saw voter turnout jump seven points to 67.5 percent from the 2003 ballot, according to a Kyodo News Agency estimate.

"I had hoped we would win a majority with our party alone, but we did even better than that," a beaming Koizumi said late Sunday. "I thank the nation for its support and understanding."

Optimism about the results sent Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei stock index surging 1.8 percent to 12,915.53 points.

The win would keep a staunch ally of President Bush in power. Koizumi is expected to stand by his dispatch of troops to support the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq over opposition objections, and he strongly supports the continued presence of 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.

Japan also is one of the United States' negotiating partners in the effort to disarm North Korea of its nuclear weapons.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Darla Jordan said the Bush administration looked forward to continuing to work closely with Koizumi's government and "to move ahead in our close cooperation on a broad range of global, regional and bilateral issues."

Victory was sweet for the popular leader, who called the election after defections within his party scuttled a legislative package he had championed for breaking up and privatizing Japan Post. He kept the campaign focused on his plan, overshadowing the opposition and rejuvenating the image of the LDP from staid ruling party to agent of dynamic change.