Japan Democrats win landslide in historic election

Japanese voters swept the Opposition to a historic victory in an election on Sunday, ousting the ruling conservative party and handing the untested Democrats the job of breathing life into a struggling economy.

The win by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ended half-century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and breaks a deadlock in Parliament, ushering in a government that has promised to focus spending on consumers, cut wasteful budget outlays and reduce the power of bureaucrats.

"The people are angry with politics now and the ruling coalition.

"We felt a great sense of people wanting change for their livelihoods and we fought this election for a change in government," said Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama, 62.

Hatoyama, the wealthy grandson of a former Prime Minister, is expected to name a transition team on Monday to prepare to take power.

Media projections showed the Democrats set for a landslide win, possibly taking two-thirds of the seats in Parliament's powerful 480-member lower house. That matched earlier forecasts of a drubbing for Prime Minister Taro Aso's LDP.

The ruling party loss ended a three-way partnership between the LDP, big business and bureaucrats that turned Japan into an economic powerhouse after the country's defeat in World War Two.

That strategy foundered when Japan's "bubble" economy burst in the late 1980s and growth has stagnated since.

"This is about the end of the post-war political system in Japan," said Gerry Curtis, a Japanese expert at Columbia University. "It marks the end of one long era, and the beginning of another one about which there is a lot of uncertainty."

Financial markets wanted an end to a stalemate in parliament, where the Democrats and their allies control the less powerful upper chamber and can delay bills.

However, bond yields may rise if a new government increases spending.

The Democrats will have to move fast to keep support among voters worried about a record jobless rate and a rapidly ageing society that is inflating social security costs.

Media exit polls showed the Democratic Party had won around 320 lower house seats - almost triple its 115 before the election. The LDP slumped to just over 100 seats from 300. Reuters