Japanese PM calls election

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso dissolved Parliament's lower house yesterday for an August 30 election that polls show could see his conservative party ousted for only the second time in its more than half-century reign.

A victory for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan would raise the chances of breaking a deadlock caused by a divided parliament that has stymied policy implementation as Japan struggles to emerge from recession.

It would also usher in a government pledging to pay more heed to consumers than companies, to wrest control of policy from bureaucrats to cut waste, and to adopt a diplomatic stance less subservient to close ally the United States.

Mr Aso's LDP, which has ruled for all but 10 months since its founding in 1955, has relied heavily on bureaucrats to craft policies that analysts say helped build Japan's post-war economic "miracle" but later blocked reforms.