Japan's LDP Is Planning for November Elections, Aso Aide Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axQDHvyReCuM

By Sachiko Sakamaki and Takashi Hirokawa

Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's ruling coalition is planning to call elections by the end of next month even as the global financial crisis threatens to spark a worldwide recession, an advisor to Prime Minister Taro Aso said.

``I am preparing on the assumption elections may be held at the end of November,'' Aso's Special Advisor Shuichi Yamaguchi said in an interview outside parliament today in Tokyo.



Aso, who became premier last month, faces mounting calls to hold early elections as slowing growth threatens to cut short his honeymoon period. Aso, 68, promised to boost economic growth and extend his ruling Liberal Democratic Party's 50-year grip on power during his campaign.

There is a ``99.9 percent chance'' the LDP will call elections Nov. 30, Hirotaka Akamatsu, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan's chief election strategist, said in an interview in his office yesterday in Tokyo. Japanese elections are held on Sundays and Nov. 23 falls during a holiday weekend, making Nov. 30 the most likely date for the contest.

The LDP will probably adhere to the date, which the Nikkei newspaper reported today citing party lawmakers, because local officials have started preparations including ordering billboards and candidates have rented campaign offices, Akamatsu, 60, said.

To be sure, Aso could delay elections if slowing global demand threatens the survival of Japanese companies, Yamaguchi said.

``Aso wants to avoid massive bankruptcies after he dissolves the lower house,'' he said. Under Japanese law, the prime minister must call elections within 40 day of dissolving the lower chamber.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net; Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 17, 2008 01:18 EDT