国际英语新闻：Japanese voters cast ballots for House of Representatives election

TOKYO, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Japanese voters began voting early Sunday for a lower house generation in which the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) looks set to end more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

    Most of the nearly 51,000 polling stations nationwide opened at7 a.m. (2200 GMT Saturday) and are to close at 8 p.m. Sunday (1100GMT Sunday). Voters formed long queues even before the polling booths opened, waiting to cast their ballots.

    The results of the general election, the first in four years, are expected to be known by early Monday. Due to great voter enthusiasm, turnout could be higher than the previous general election, in which it reached 67.51 percent.

    The focus of the election is whether the DPJ, led by Yukio Hatoyama can achieve a landslide victory over the ruling LDP, as predicted by media polls.

    The LDP has dominated Japan's politics for more than half a century since its establishment in 1955, except for the nearly 11 months in 1993-94 when it fell out of power. Analysts say that a DPJ victory could usher in a two-party system following more than 50 years of virtually one-party rule.

    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.

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. Candidates across Japan made their final pitch to voters on Saturday on the eve of an election the opposition looks poised to win, giving the untested Democrats the job of tackling record unemployment and a fast-ageing society.

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.

People cast their votes for the house of representatives election at a polling station in Tokyo, Japan, on Aug. 30, 2009

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.

    A total of 1,374 people declared candidacies for the general election, with 1,139 running in the 300 single-seat constituencies and 888 in the 180-seat proportional representation segment.

    Japanese media surveys have shown the DPJ is on track of winning 300 seats, as the opposition has a solid hold on nearly 200 of the 300 single-seat constituencies and is likely to take 90of the 180 seats in the proportional representation segment.

    Each voter casts two ballots -- one to choose a candidate in a single-seat constituency and the other to choose a political party or group for proportional representation.

    Statistics released Saturday by the Japanese government showed that more than 10.94 million people, or 10.49 percent of the eligible voters nationwide, already cast their ballots in early voting for the election on Aug. 19-28, representing a record high enthusiasm among voters to choose their leader of government.  

Japan's opposition Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama shakes hands with voters during a campaign for the upcoming lower house election in Sakai, western Japan, August 29, 2009. Candidates across Japan made their final pitch on Saturday on the eve of an election the opposition looks set to win, giving the untested Democrats the job of tackling record unemployment and a fast-ageing society