Koizumi under pressure to act after landslide election victory
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.
