 |
| Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan addressing a press conference [Photo Credit: http://www.kantei.go.jp] |
Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has conceded defeat
in the parliamentary elections as Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Shinzo Abe
has won the Japanese election, exit polls predict.
Noda said he was stepping down as leader of the Democratic
Party, as exit polls showed the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
winning a clear majority of some 310 mandates in the 480-seat lower house of parliament, or
Diet.
The LDP had ruled Japan for decades until it lost the 2009
election.
Noda's crushing defeat came amid public disappointment
caused by an economic downturn and last year's nuclear disaster at Fukushima.
The December 16 vote came amid tensions with China over
several uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
LDP leader Shinzo Abe, who is set to become Japan's next
premier, reaffirmed that the islands belong to Japan.
Abe served as prime minister in 2006-2007 before stepping
down on health grounds.