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Japanese cast votes for the lower house election

(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-30 13:46

Participants in the Asakusa Samba festival walk past an election poster of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party which bears a picture of its leader,Prime Minister Taro Aso, after their parade in Tokyo August 29, 2009.[Xinhua]

Economy has been the foremost subject the two blocs debated on as Japan is undergoing one of its worst post-war slowdowns and the jobless rate hit a record 5.7 percent in July and its public debt has amounted to an estimated 200 percent of its GDP, the highest among industrialized nations.

Prime Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as the LDP chief, and Hatoyama made their final appeals to the public late Saturday.

Standing outside the east exit of JR Ikebukuro Station, Aso spoke of his party's focus on the economy.

"We're only partway through our economic stimulus measures," said Aso.

"Please allow the LDP-New Komeito coalition to finish stimulating the economy. I'll show you that we can do a thorough job," he said.

Outside the west exit of the same station, Hatoyama, for his part, said: "We need to be brave to redraw history...This is the first election in Japan in which it will be possible to change the administration.

"We vow to work as if our lives depend on it to bring about the birth (of a DPJ-led administration)," he said.

The House of Representatives has 480 members, 300 of whom are elected by simple majority vote in single-member districts. The remaining 180 members are elected by proportional representation from a list of candidates selected by the political parties. The term of office for representatives is four years.

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