Conservative LDP returns with landslide in Japan

By Malcolm Foster
Published December 16, 2012 5:00am ET
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Conservative LDP returns with landslide in Japan
Japan's main opposition leader Shinzo Abe, right, of the Liberal Democratic Party, and the party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba pose for photos as they place a rosette on the name of one of those elected in parliamentary elections at the party headquarters in Tokyo Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. Japan's conservative LDP stormed back to power Sunday after three years in opposition, exit polls showed, signaling a rightward shift in the government that could further heighten tensions with rival China. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa) | Junji Kurokawa

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in a landslide election victory Sunday after three years in opposition, according to unofficial results, signaling a rightward shift in the government that could further heighten tensions with China, a key economic partner as well as rival.

The victory means that the hawkish former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead the nation after a one-year stint in 2006-2007. He would be Japan’s seventh prime minister in six-and-a-half years.

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