A landslide election victory for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has given the 63-year-old leader a clear mandate for economic, social and political reform. The win has boosted the LDP's standing in the lower house by nearly 20 percent and given ruling lawmakers a two-thirds majority to override votes in a still-hostile upper house.

But the results raise new questions: Will Koizumi be able to carry out his long sought-after economic reforms? And will the vote, which reversed years of election setbacks for the LDP, deal a blow to the development of a two-party political system in Japan?