Koizumi’s LDP wins big
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party cruised to victory Sunday, handily winning a majority in the 480-seat House of Representatives and giving him a mandate to push ahead with postal privatization.
In contrast, the Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force, was battered in the election. It was expected to fall short of the 177 seats it held going into the race, and its leader, Katsuya Okada, indicated later in the evening that he would step down.
