Iraq effect costs Japanese PM seats

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s party lost seats but held on to a majority in weekend parliamentary elections in Japan.

Koizumi’s Liberal Democratic Party won 49 of the 121 seats at stake – down from 50 and two short of its target.

Ally, Komeito, won 11 seats to ensure the ruling coalition’s dominance in the upper house.

But the opposition Democratic Party, bolstered by discontent with Koizumi’s deployment of troops to Iraq and a new law cutting pension benefits, boosted its standing in the chamber by 12 seats to 50.

The embattled premier, who took office in April 2001 promising far-reaching reform, insisted there was no reason for him to resign to take responsibility for the results. But the Democrats claimed victory.

“The people have issued a resounding ‘no’ to Koizumi’s policies,” said party leader Katsuya Okada.

The election had not been expected to seriously threaten the LDP’s hold on government. The party, which has governed almost uninterruptedly since 1955, holds a firm majority in the powerful lower house, the stronger of the legislature’s two chambers.

But the robust turnout for the opposition could undermine support for Koizumi within his own party and damage his clout as prime minister.

“What we’re seeing is a result of Koizumi’s diminishing popularity – the ’Koizumi effect’ is wearing off,” said Jiro Yamaguchi, a political scientist at Hokkaido University. He predicted the party would become even more resistant to reform.