The Hindu : Koizumi poised to win poll

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 10, 2003

International

International

Koizumi poised to win poll

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE Nov. 9. The early trends of the "exit polls'' in Japan's general election to the House of Representatives, held on Sunday, indicated a "victory'' for the Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi's ruling coalition, but the focus shifted to the technical issue of whether or not his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) would secure more than the 233 seats that it bagged on its own in the previous election in June 2000.

At the time that the House was dissolved recently, paving the way for today's polling, the LDP held 247 seats of the total strength of 480 on account of the changing political realities in the wake of the 2000 general election. With the official results of Sunday's polling expected to be known only by early Monday, the non-official "exit polls'' prompted the leader of the main Opposition outfit, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Naoto Kan, to contend that Mr. Koizumi could be considered a `loser' if the LDP failed to cross the 233-seat margin.

The LDP had recorded that tally under the leadership of Yoshiro Mori.

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