Major political parties in Japan are set to struggle for power after the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition failed to attain a combined majority in the House of Representatives in the October 27 election. The LDP won 191 seats and coalition partner Komeito got 24 seats for a total of 215, falling short of the 233 majority in the 465-seat lower house.The LDP-Komeito ruling bloc previously lost in a general election in 2009 when the then Democratic Party of Japan took over the government.A senior LDP member said the party will first seek some kind of cooperative relations with the opposition Democratic Party for the People that won 28 seats, four times the number it had before the election.

On the morning of October 28, the LDP held an executive board meeting to discuss what to do in the aftermath of the election.LDP Election Strategy Committee Chairperson Koizumi Shinjiro has said he will step down from his party post to take responsibility for the loss.But some party members suggest that Prime Minister and LDP President Ishiba Shigeru and LDP Secretary General Moriyama Hiroshi also give up their party leadership positions.

Among the opposition, the largest Constitutional Democratic Party, which increased its seats 1.5 times to 148, is looking toward taking the reins of government by forming a coalition with smaller parties.

S/ Reporter / Will you first approach the Democratic Party for the People? 

S/ Noda Yoshihiko, Leader, Constitutional Democratic Party / That will basically be the plan. We have repeatedly said that we will organize our basic ideas with the Democratic Party for the People via Rengo,the trade union confederation as we have done under the Izumi leadership.

The leader of the Democratic Party for the People said he is not thinking about joining the LDP-led coalition.

S/ Tamaki Yuichiro, Leader, Democratic Party for the People / I have said also during the election that we are not thinking about it. We will continue our stance of cooperating with policies that are good and saying no to policies that don't work.