Japan PM dissolves lower house, calls election on Nov 9

10 October 2003, 18:00 PM

AP, Tokyo

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi yesterday dissolved the lower house of Japan's Parliament and called for national elections that will be dominated by debate over how to reverse a longrunning slump plaguing the world's second largest economy.

Koizumi set November 9 as the date for the balloting, said Takenori Kanzaki, who leads the New Komeito Party, a member of the three-party ruling coalition.

Japan's prolonged economic slowdown is likely to be the central issue of the election. Signs of a recovery have emerged but joblessness remains near a record high, hovering above 5 percent.

Since taking office in April 2001, Koizumi has vowed to do away with pork-barrel politics and wasteful public works spending, and to deliver on economic reforms.

Although he has capped government spending and pushed through laws to deregulate industry and privatise government institutions like the post office, those policies have yet to usher in an era of prosperity.

Supporters say Koizumi, who took office in April 2001, needs more time to carry out his agenda. But Japan's largest opposition bloc which merged in anticipation of elections has blamed him for the country's economic woes and slammed him for backing the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The dissolution of Parliament which was expected places the 480 seats of the lower house the more powerful of the legislature's two chambers up for grabs.

The elections offer the popular prime minister a chance to solidify his leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, after his landslide re-election to a second three-year term as party president last month. The LDP hopes the poll will help extend its dominance over Parliament in the face of a more unified opposition.