Koizumi aims for election booster

TOKYO, Japan -- Campaigning has kicked off for Japan's Upper House elections, the first national test for the country's new leader.

The elections will confirm whether Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi can translate his popularity into a victory for his ruling coalition.

Koizumi came to power in April on a groundswell of street-level support and a desire among Japan's public for change in his long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

So far, Japan's mass of voters have been drawn to the maverick charismatic leader who has made an unswerving promise to open the country's political system and reform its moribund economy amid a global downturn.

His approval ratings stand around 80 percent, a sharp contrast to the dismal single-digit ratings for his predecessor.

But opinion polls have shown that the public is still largely undecided whether to cast their ballots for the ruling coalition, led by Koizumi's LDP.

Mandate for reform

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Candidacy registration began Thursday morning and around 500 hopefuls are expected to contest the 121 seats up for grabs in the July 29 polls for the less-powerful house in Japan's parliament.

The prime minister has said he will aim for a majority for the ruling coalition, which he says would give him a mandate to push ahead with structural reform.

Such measures have long been pushed by many private analysts to get Japan out of a decade long economic slump.

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Koizumi is leading his LDP-led coalition into the election with a platform pledging painful reforms for future growth at a time when the economy may already be in recession.

"I will enact bold and flexible reform, without fearing pain, without flinching at barriers of vested interests, and without being shackled by the experience of the past," Koizumi said on Wednesday, repeating a line he has often used since becoming premier in April.

Koizumi has proven to be a rare figure in Japanese politics. While favoring fairly radical economic measures, he is largely a conservative on political issues.

He is also one of the first to effectively use image-building through the media to build a popular base of support instead of relying on power brokers in Japan's political factions.

Doubts over LDP

Koizumi is at a crossroads, hoping to push painful reforms just as Japan falters

But many voters seeking to support Koizumi's reform plans are clearly puzzled over how to cast their ballots most effectively, given many believe the LDP itself oppose the changes.

A clear majority of Japanese voters say they back Koizumi's reforms -- even if the price is higher unemployment, bankruptcies and lower wages, a survey by the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper, a metropolitan daily, showed on Wednesday.

But an equal percentage -- around 60 percent -- believe Koizumi's LDP cannot carry out the reforms in their present form, the survey said.

Support for Koizumi's plans is higher among backers of the main opposition Democratic Party than those that lean toward the conservative LDP, the newspaper said.

Many of the opposition's ideas have been co-opted by Koizumi.

Some analysts, too, say an overwhelming victory by the LDP-led coalition would strengthen the hand of anti-reform groups within the alliance, enabling them to water down the prime minister's agenda.

But opinion polls showed the LDP appeared to have a clear lead over the Democrats.

Reuters contributed to this report.