<p>Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) surged back to power in an election on Sunday just three years after a devastating defeat, giving ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe a chance to push his hawkish security agenda and radical economic recipe.<br /><br /></p>.<p>An LDP win will usher in a government committed to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear energy policy despite last year’s Fukushima disaster and a potentially risky prescription for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to beat deflation and tame a strong yen.<br /><br />A TV Asahi projection based on counted votes gave the LDP at least 291 seats in parliament’s 480-member lower house, and together with its small ally, the New Komeito party, a two-thirds majority needed to override, on most matters, the upper house, where no party has majority.<br /><br />That would help break a policy deadlock that has plagued the world’s third biggest economy since 2007.<br /><br />“We have promised to pull Japan out of deflation and correct a strong yen,” Abe said on live television. “We need to do this. The same goes for national security and diplomacy.”<br />Parliament is expected to vote Abe in as prime minister on December 26.<br /><br />While LDP and New Komeito officials confirmed they would form a coalition, LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba did not rule out cooperation with the Japan Restoration Party, a new right-leaning party that was set to pick up at least 52 seats.<br /><br />“I think there is room to do this in the area of national defence,” he said. The New Komeito is more moderate than the LDP on security issues.</p>
<p>Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) surged back to power in an election on Sunday just three years after a devastating defeat, giving ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe a chance to push his hawkish security agenda and radical economic recipe.<br /><br /></p>.<p>An LDP win will usher in a government committed to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear energy policy despite last year’s Fukushima disaster and a potentially risky prescription for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to beat deflation and tame a strong yen.<br /><br />A TV Asahi projection based on counted votes gave the LDP at least 291 seats in parliament’s 480-member lower house, and together with its small ally, the New Komeito party, a two-thirds majority needed to override, on most matters, the upper house, where no party has majority.<br /><br />That would help break a policy deadlock that has plagued the world’s third biggest economy since 2007.<br /><br />“We have promised to pull Japan out of deflation and correct a strong yen,” Abe said on live television. “We need to do this. The same goes for national security and diplomacy.”<br />Parliament is expected to vote Abe in as prime minister on December 26.<br /><br />While LDP and New Komeito officials confirmed they would form a coalition, LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba did not rule out cooperation with the Japan Restoration Party, a new right-leaning party that was set to pick up at least 52 seats.<br /><br />“I think there is room to do this in the area of national defence,” he said. The New Komeito is more moderate than the LDP on security issues.</p>