Koizumi, Ozawa Destroy LDP Rule in Japan

Tokyo, Aug. 31 (Jiji Press)--Former Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi and opposition executive Ichiro Ozawa played a role in ending over
half a century of nearly uninterrupted rule in Japan by the Liberal
Democratic Party.

Koizumi, reform-minded charismatic prime minister between April
2001 and September 2006, was a savior of the LDP as he drew high public
support at that time.
But Koizumi triggered a backlash from his own party over his
aggressive pursuit of postal privatization.
By purging party old guards opposed to the postal reform, Koizumi
led the LDP to a landslide victory in the previous 2005 election for the
House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the country's parliament.
But his move completely destroyed the LDP, said author Eiji Oshita.
Taro Aso, who took over as LDP president and Prime Minister in
September last year, failed to lift the party's sagging support as his image
was tarnished by gaffes.
Ozawa, a top election strategist for the major opposition
Democratic Party of Japan, has looked thoroughly into the negative impacts
of Koizumi's reforms, and succeeded in ousting the LDP from power in
Sunday's Lower House election, Oshita said.
The LDP saw the number of its seats reduced to the lowest level
since it was formed in 1955 in the election.
Aso expressed his readiness to step down as party chief following
the election defeat.
Oshita added it is uncertain whether the DPJ will win again in the
election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, in the summer of
next year because swing-over in voter sentiment is likely.