TOKYO, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso announced on Monday he would resign as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party following the party's crushing defeat in Sunday's general election.
The opposition Democratic Party, led by Yukio Hatoyama, the grandson of former premier Ichiro Hatoyama, won 308 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament, while the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had been in power almost continually since 1955, secured only 119.
Aso said he would have to accept responsibility for the results, and admitted that Japanese voters were deeply dissatisfied with him and his party.
Japan has been hard-hit by the global economic slowdown, with unemployment at a record high, sparking dissatisfaction with the LDP.
Meanwhile, Hatoyama has pledged a range of ambitious healthcare and education spending schemes, but analysts have warned the plans could further escalate the national debt.
A Russian analyst said the Democrats had won on a wave of public desire for change exacerbated by the crisis in the ruling party, which has changed three leaders and three premiers in the last three years, and by the economic slump and growing unemployment.
"An unemployment rate of 5.7% is a very high figure for Japan," said Vasily Mikheyev, deputy director of the Global Economics and International Relations Institute think tank.
Speaking on the election result, Mikheyev said: "This is the first time in history. I believe this is a result of prevailing sentiments in Japanese society, above all its middle class and young people, who were very active during the vote, with turnout reported at about a record 70%."
Mikheyev said the Democrats would now have to live up to expectations by boosting consumer demand in Japan, which still has enormous purchasing power with $100,000 per capita in bank deposits.
However, he said hopes for an economic recovery still depend mainly on exports, and hence a better economic situation in the United States, China and Europe, its main importers.
