TOKYO, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet resigned on Wednesday ending the three-year rule of the leftist Democratic Party and bringing back to power the more conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
The LDP and its traditional partner New Komeito party won 325 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament during elections on December 16.
The LDP leader, Shinzo Abe, is to be named prime minister at an extraordinary session of the parliament later in the day.
Abe, 58, who is considered one of the more conservative and hawkish figures in Japanese political elite, will become prime minister for the second time in his political career.
He headed the nation for a year in 2006-2007 but had to resign following a series of scandals in the government.
Abe has already vowed to take bold steps to bring the Japanese economy out of a two-decade stagnation, to deal with a growing national debt and to come up with a recovery plan following last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami, and ensuing nuclear crisis.
On the international front, Abe has promised to defend Japan’s interests in ongoing territorial disputes and strengthen Tokyo's security alliance with Washington.
