Koizumi under pressure to act after landslide election victory

PRIME Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s triumph in parliamentary polls handed the leader a new mandate yesterday to turn promises into action for sweeping economic reforms.

The landslide victory boosted his Liberal Democratic Party’s standing in the lawmaking lower house by nearly 20% and gave ruling lawmakers a two-thirds majority - plus a coalition partner - to override votes in a hostile upper house.

The LDP’s final tally stood at 296 seats compared to 249 when Koizumi dissolved the chamber last month. Optimism about the results sent Tokyo’s Nikkei stock index surging 1.8% in early trading.

Mr Koizumi quickly came under pressure to use his new strength to deliver - not just on his cherished plans to privatise the nation’s postal savings and insurance system but on issues ranging from pensions to diplomatic relations.

Mr Koizumi, a staunch ally of US President George W Bush, is expected to stand by Tokyo’s dispatch in support of the US-led coalition in Iraq and supports the continued presence of 50,000 US troops in Japan.

The opposition Democrats had pledged to withdraw from Iraq. The LDP victory delayed any notion Japan was entering an era of two-party politics following impressive recent gains by the opposition Democratic Party. The Democrats plunged to 113 seats from 175, and party leader Katsuya Okada said he would resign.

The LDP victory will test Mr Koizumi’s ability to transform the party’s once-moribund, pork-barrel politics into a streamlined force for dynamic reform and small government. Mr Koizumi insisted he will retire in September, but wants the next LDP leader to carry his reform torch. He now has the numbers to push through postal service reforms.