Japan to announce date of upper house election on Thursday

TOKYO, June 23 Kyodo -
The Japanese government on Thursday will formally announce July 11 as the date
of the House of Councillors election, enabling people to file for candidacy and
launch official campaigning.
It will be the first time that Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who became president
of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan in early June, faces off against
Sadakazu Tanigaki, who has led the Liberal Democratic Party since it lost power
to the DPJ in a House of Representatives election last August.
The DPJ is expected to field 106 candidates and the LDP to field 84 candidates
in the triennial election in which half of the upper chamber's 242 seats will
be up for grabs.
The DPJ and its junior coalition partner, the People's New Party, need to
secure at least 56 of the 121 seats to be contested to secure a majority in the
chamber.
Kan is aiming to retain the 54 seats currently held by the DPJ, while Tanigaki
has pledged to resign if the LDP fails to strip the DPJ-PNP coalition of its
upper house majority.
Among minor parties, the New Komeito party is aiming to win at least 11 seats,
the Japanese Communist Party at least six, Your Party at least 20 and the
Sunrise Party of Japan at least seven.
The LDP and other opposition parties could prevent the ruling camp from
securing a bare majority in the upper house of 122 seats by winning 66 seats.
The election results could affect the ruling coalition framework and Kan's plan
to win reelection as DPJ president in September.
==Kyodo