Mon, August 31, 2009
TOKYO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said Monday that he will step down as LDP president.
At a press conference, Aso said that he means to do so to take the blame for the LDP' s defeat in Sunday's lower house election.
The defeat was caused by the LDP' s failure to appropriately address social problems, including Japan's expanding social disparity, and criticism against himself, he said.
On Sunday, Aso expressed his intention to resign as party chief after the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) scored a landslide victory over the LDP in the general election.
The 68-year-old politician assumed the premiership last September following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor, Yasuo Fukuda.
TOKYO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Voter turnout hit record highs of 69.28 percent in single-seat districts and of 69.27 percent in proportional representation segments in Sunday's House of Representatives election, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Monday.
That a record number of voters cast early ballots before Sunday was believed to be the key factor behind the record turnout, which topped the previous respective highs of 67.51 percent and 67.46 percent in the last general election four years ago.
