Three days ahead of the lower house election, all parties in Japan are stepping up last-ditch campaigns. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which was expected to face an uphill battle because of its internal discord, is showing noticeable advantage in polls over its rivals.

General opinion gravitated toward the possibility of the ruling bloc, or even the LDP alone, winning a majority in the general election set for September 11.

A survey result in the Asahi Shimbun daily showed on Thursday that the LDP lead the major opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 27 per cent over 18 per cent in support ratings for proportional representation constituencies. The former advanced 4 percentage points from the previous survey, while the latter edged up 2 points.

LDP leader, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has repeatedly noted that he sees the election as a referendum on his postal privatization reform. Koizumi offered to step down if the ruling coalition fails to secure a majority.

The iron-fisted leader vowed not to endorse the election party lawmakers who voted against his postal reform bills in the parliamentary sessions. Still, Koizumi intensified his punitive action by picking well-known personnel as candidates to compete head-on with the party rebels in their constituencies.

His tactics seem to have worked as media polls showed surging public interest in the election and upbeat outlook for the LDP.

Koizumi's personal appeal is also largely attributed to the LDP's leading margin, said Hiroshi Hoshi, a senior political writer with the Asahi Shimbun. Previous media polls have revealed that the premier was still the most charming politician in Japan.

However, the DPJ, which has gained momentum in recent elections, failed to take advantage of the split of the ruling party. The rising of the DPJ has generated wide perception that Japan is on the way toward a two-party political system.

Immediately after Koizumi dissolved the lower house and called a snap election, DPJ President Katsuya Okada appeared so confident about winning the election that he stated it was time for the DPJ to take power.

The polls showed that the LDP was drawing growing support in urban areas, while in the LDP's traditional stronghold of rural areas, DPJ's popularity was increasing, a different scenario from the previous elections.

Koizumi-led structural reforms "have hard hit the regions outside the urban areas, and the people in urban areas have been supporting Koizumi's reforms, saying that by further pushing forward with the reforms, their tax burdens would be reduced," Hoshi said.

In the campaign, the LDP focused solely on postal reform. Koizumi described the privatizing the giant Japan Post as the prerequisite of all reform projects.

The DPJ pinned its campaign drive on pension reform and child- rearing but the public has showed greater preference to postal reform.

In spite of the rosy prospect for the LDP, the party cannot yet be sure that it will secure a majority.

Source: China Daily