DPJ on way to beating LDP in 1st nat'l-level election under Fukuda

Apr 27 09:03 AM US/Eastern

(AP) - YAMAGUCHI, Japan, April 27 (Kyodo) — The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan is heading toward beating the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's House of Representatives by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture, in a sign of voter disappointment over Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's handling of road tax and elderly medical care issues, projections by Kyodo News showed.

The projected victory of Hideo Hiraoka, 54, in the first national- level election under the seven-month-old Fukuda administration is expected to raise doubts about the prime minister's leadership, while emboldening the DPJ to step up its attack against the government over road taxes and put pressure on Fukuda to call for an early general election.

Photo: Shigetaro Yamamoto, LDP candidate

In the prefecture's No. 2 constituency, the DPJ candidate, a former lower house member, is projected to win over LDP candidate Shigetaro Yamamoto, 59, a former bureaucrat in the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.

Both the LDP and the DPJ threw full support to their candidates during the campaigning, with their eyes set on the next general election which may take place possibly later this year and will be a crucial test for whether the long-ruling LDP can stay in power.

"I think this is a result of accepting (people's) calls (for me) to do something with various government policies," Hiraoka said. "This by- election is the latest public will. I would like to watch how the Fukuda administration will deal with it."

Hiraoka is also backed by the tiny opposition Social Democratic Party, while Yamamoto is supported by the LDP's coalition partner, the New Komeito party.

Following the election, Fukuda, whose support ratings have fallen below the "danger" line of 30 percent in recent media polls, may face criticism even from among ruling party members over his handling of the government. Fukuda doubles as LDP president.

Meanwhile, the DPJ is expected to seek taking the initiative in parliament on the back of the "people's will" shown in the latest by- election and the House of Councillors election last July. Opposition parties won control of the upper house in the July election.

Voting ended at 8 p.m. Ballot counting is expected to finish around late Sunday night.

Photo: Hideo Hiraoka, DPJ winner

As of 6 p.m., voter turnout was 50.52 percent, down 3.91 percentage points from the same time of day in the general election in 2005. But reflecting the high voter interest in the by-election, absentee ballots cast by Saturday stood at around 9,000 more than the comparable figure in the 2005 election.

The by-election comes at a time when the ruling and opposition parties are entering a crucial stage in their tug-of-war over gasoline and other road-related tax surcharges, which expired March 31 due to resistance from the opposition parties.

Regardless of the election outcome, the ruling parties plan to seek passage of a tax reform bill that would reinstate the surcharges by resorting to an overriding revote in the ruling coalition-controlled lower house on Wednesday.

The day is the earliest possible date when such a revote becomes possible under Constitutional provisions.

To counter such moves, the DPJ will make final arrangements on whether to submit a censure motion against the prime minister in the upper house. The motion would be nonbinding, but if the upper house passed it, it would nonetheless be another blow to the government.

The government and the ruling parties have insisted that the failure to pass the tax bill will cause serious revenue shortfalls for local governments. But the move to reinstate the surcharges, about 25 yen per liter of gasoline, could trigger a public backlash at a time when oil prices are already high.

According to Kyodo News exit polls on the road tax issue, 65.8 percent were against the government's policy of restoring the gasoline surcharges, while 34.2 percent supported the idea.

Photo: Hideo Hiraoka (middle) celebrates victory

While calling for abolishment of the surcharges, the DPJ side has also stepped up criticism over a new health insurance system for people aged 75 or older inaugurated April 1.

The system has triggered complaints among the elderly, regarded as a support base for Fukuda, over premium deductions from pension benefits and bureaucratic blunders.

A sense of distrust over such government policies has apparently led to the DPJ's projected victory.

Yamamoto, who had to explain the new system during the campaign, said, "I've been thinking that it can't become an issue in Yamaguchi. I wanted a little more time to have people understand it."

Issues that have also attracted attention in the election campaign include a planned relocation of U.S. carrier-borne fighter jets to the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is part of the No. 2 constituency, from Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Yamamoto is a supporter of the relocation plan, while Hiraoka is against it.

The by-election is being held to fill a lower house seat which became vacant after Yoshihiko Fukuda resigned to run in the February Iwakuni mayoral election, which he won.

Hiraoka is set to be elected for the fourth time as a lower house member.

Hiraoka was a lower house member elected under a proportional representation system but he lost the seat when he filed his candidacy in Sunday's election.