Word: ldp
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...full extent of the loss sank in Sunday, Abe and his advisers gave every indication that he would try to hold on to power. "We tried our best and felt we made some progress, so the results are extremely disappointing," a bleary Abe told Japanese reporters from LDP headquarters. "I must push ahead with reforms and continue to fulfill my responsibilities as Prime Minister...
Because the ruling coalition still holds a massive majority in the more powerful Lower House, the LDP retains control of the government. Abe could still face pressure to step down from members of his own party, although for now the LDP's most bloodthirsty factions may be content with the departures of some of Abe's closest Cabinet ministers, including LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa, who appeared on TV to take responsibility for the loss and submitted his resignation late Sunday...
...Japanese public may be less forgiving. Before today's poll, Abe's approval ratings were scraping 30%, and many voters said they wanted to send Abe and the LDP a clear message. "Although the Upper House elections are not the election of the ruling party, I want Abe to take it as a defeat and resign," says Masamichi Watanabe, 23, of Wako city, outside Tokyo...
While Abe will likely spend the immediate future quieting dissension within the LDP, the victorious DPJ will face its own difficult choices. With control of the Upper House, the party will be able to block legislation, although the ruling coalition's two-thirds majority in the Lower House will allow it to override most opposition. DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa could choose to throw the government into gridlock, hoping to force Abe to call snap elections. But playing parliamentary chicken is risky: such a move could prompt the public to see the DPJ as obstructionist and incapable of governing, a charge...
...resigning to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi entering the picture, with look-alike actors playing the roles of Abe and Ozawa. But what is certain is that Abe's vision of a stronger, more assertive Japan is finished for now. In one of the election's biggest surprises, the LDP's usually reliable coalition partner Komeito performed well under expectations - in part, suggests Jun Iio of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, because Komeito's generally pacifist supporters have rejected the party's connection with the conservative...