Uno Tells Shock at Party Defeat at Hands of Socialist
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TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sosuke Uno expressed shock today at the resounding defeat of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party by a Socialist candidate for a seat in the Upper House of Japan’s Parliament.
“We didn’t anticipate that we would lose that badly,” Uno told a news conference.
“To have lost that badly we have to think seriously about it and to examine why it happened.”
The by-election Sunday was seen as a harbinger of Upper House elections on July 23.
Analysts, citing allegations that Uno was involved in extramarital relationships, said he was partly responsible for the victory by Japan Socialist Party candidate Kinuko Ofuchi, a woman, in rural Niigata prefecture, a traditional LDP stronghold north of Tokyo.
Political commentator Soichiro Tahara said women voters who disapproved of Uno’s private life helped contribute to the Socialist victory.
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