Background on Japan’s parliamentary elections

October 14th, 2009 GUWAHATI - Assam's main opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is still sticking with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for next month's by-elections, although the alliance boomeranged on the regional party in the last parliamentary polls. "As per the seat sharing tie up between the two parties, we are contesting in one seat and the BJP in the other seat for by-elections to two assembly constituencies," AGP leader Padma Hazarika told journalists.

September 2nd, 2009 TOKYO - The politician slated to be Japan's next prime minister vowed Thursday in a telephone call with US President Barack Obama to maintain his country's close ties with its US ally and pledged cooperation with Washington to improve the economy. The state of US-Japanese ties has been a concern in the US capital with the landslide win of Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in Sunday's parliamentary elections.

August 31st, 2009 Japan's election resultsHere are the standings in Japan's lower house of parliament after Sunday's elections, as compiled by the media. Official results have not been released.

August 30th, 2009 Polls open in Japanese parliamentary electionTOKYO — Polls have opened in Japan's nationwide parliamentary election. Opinion polls have overwhelmingly predicted that the opposition Democratic Party of Japan will unseat the conservative and long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a landslide.

August 30th, 2009 Top Japan ruling party officials to quitTOKYO — A top official in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party says that he and other officials plan to step down from their posts over its apparent crushing defeat in parliamentary elections. LDP Secretary-General Hiroyuki Hosoda said Sunday that he and two other top officials plan to submit their resignations to Prime Minister Taro Aso, who serves as president of the party.

August 29th, 2009 A glance at Japan's parliamentary electionsA look at Japan's political outlook under its newly elected leadership: ____ THE WINNERS — Led by Yukio Hatoyama, the grandson of a conservative prime minister, the Democratic Party of Japan is a left-of-center mix of ruling party defectors, socialists and progressives. Created 11 years ago, it has never formed a government.

July 13th, 2009 TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso Monday agreed with top lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to dissolve the Diet's lower house and call early elections for Aug 30. The decision came after the ruling coalition of the LDP and the New Komeito party lost its majority in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly in an election Sunday and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan became the strongest party in the chamber.

May 23rd, 2009 AONLA - On her first visit here after winning from the Aonla parliamentary constituency, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Maneka Gandhi Saturday vowed to fulfil her poll promises. "I am not like those politicians who forget their promises after winning elections," Maneka Gandhi told a gathering in Aonla in Bareilly district, about 250 km from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow.

May 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - BJP leader L.K. Advani will continue as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, party president Rajnath Singh said Monday, ending speculations on the veteran's role following the party's electoral debacle.

May 18th, 2009 SHIMLA - Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur Monday ruled out his resignation in the wake of the party's poor performance in parliamentary elections in the hill state. 'There is no question of submitting the resignation (in the wake of the party's poor performance in the just-concluded elections),' he told reporters here.

April 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's staggered parliamentary elections began Thursday morning in 124 constituencies spread across 17 states and union territories. Polling centres opened at 7 a.m.

April 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's staggered parliamentary elections began Thursday morning in 124 constituencies, spread across 17 states and union territories.

March 9th, 2009 GUWAHATI - Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Sunday admitted that the pre-poll tie-up between the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be a factor in next month's parliamentary elections. 'Yes, AGP-BJP (alliance) would be a factor in the elections, although we have totally stopped thinking of the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF) as the party would have no bearing or impact on the elections,' the chief minister said.

March 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - With parliamentary elections announced in India, and with nearly 25 percent of the country's 714 million voters below the age of 35, there are tens of thousands of political aspirants who would throw themselves as candidates in the poll fray. What are the qualifications that are needed to contest the election? A person who wants to fight the elections just needs to be an Indian citizen, not less than 25 years of age, and should be a voter from any parliamentary constituency in the country.

February 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday urged MPs to work hard to ensure that the party returns to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Urging them to put their combined weight behind the party candidates, Gandhi told the Congress parliamentary party: 'We are often our worst enemies.