Koizumi faces challenge of turning words into action
Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi’s stunning triumph in parliamentary polls has handed the leader a new mandate to harness his revitalised ruling party and turn promises into action for a range of sweeping economic reforms.
His landslide victory yesterday boosted his Liberal Democratic Party’s standing in the parliament’s lower house by nearly a fifth and gave ruling politicians a two-thirds majority – along with a coalition partner – to override votes in a still-hostile upper house.
