DATE=11/09/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=JAPAN / ELECTION (S)

NUMBER=2-309611

BYLINE=AMY BICKERS

DATELINE=TOKYO

CONTENT=

INTRO: Exit polls indicate the coalition led by Japan's dominant Liberal Democratic Party, has triumphed in Sunday's elections, but with a significantly lower margin than before. V-O-A's Amy Bickers reports from Tokyo that the L-D-P's diminished support calls into question whether Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has a mandate to continue with his ambitious economic reforms.

TEXT: Exit polls suggest that the Liberal Democratic Party and its two smaller coalition partners won Japan's general election by a relatively narrow margin Sunday.

The polls indicate that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's L-D-P lost as many as 25 seats, and may no longer hold a majority of the 480 seats on its own. The three-party coalition may have lost as many as 30 seats compared with the previous parliament.

Mr. Koizumi himself was re-elected, but it is not clear if his party's reduced tally leaves him with the political support he needs to continue with his plans to revive the country's ailing economy. Many members of his own party are opposed to his reforms.

The election pitted the L-D-P, in power almost continuously for a half century, against the five-year-old Democratic Party. The fledgling opposition group was given no chance of winning this time, but hopes to emerge as a viable alternative to the L-D-P in future elections. (SIGNED)

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