http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/institutions_government/japan_election Comments for "Japan's lost election, Andrew Stevens " en http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/institutions_government/japan_election <p>The normally routine mid-term House of Councillors (upper-house) election in Japan turned out on 29 July 2007 to be an unprecedented <a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-07-30-voa15.cfm">meltdown</a> for prime minister Shinzo Abe&#39;s Liberal Democratic Party (<em>Jiminto / </em> LDP) and his New Komeito coalition partners. In the 121 seats being contested (half of the total), the LDP won only thirty-seven, leaving the coalition with 104 in the chamber and thus ceding control to the opposition <a href="http://www.dpj.or.jp/english/about_us/dpj_profile.html">Democratic Party of Japan</a> (<em>Minshuto</em> / DPJ).</p>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/institutions_government/japan_election" class="read-more" title="Read the rest of this posting.">Read the rest of this post...</a><p><a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/institutions_government/japan_election">read more</a></p> http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/institutions_government/japan_election#comment asia &amp; pacific Andrew Stevens Creative Commons normal globalisation institutions &amp; government Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:58:17 +0100 Grace Davies 34231 at http://www.opendemocracy.net