Japan leader 'to call early poll'

Mr Koizumi's popularity is sky-high after his leadership victory last week

Japan's prime minister is expected to call a snap general election for 9 November, local media reported.

Junichiro Koizumi will dissolve parliament on 10 October, and campaigning would begin on 28 October, Kyodo news agency and leading newspapers reported.

Mr Koizumi had to call an election before next June, but he had been expected to go to the polls this year to prevent a clash with an upper house vote due in July.

The Japanese premier's popularity is riding high, following his victory in a leadership battle for his own party last week and his subsequent cabinet reshuffle.

The new line-up was backed by nearly two-thirds of voters surveyed by three newspapers this week.

The country's opposition has also had a shake-up. On Wednesday, the Democratic Party of Japan formally announced its merger with the smaller Liberal Party.

Mr Koizumi faces a tight schedule if he wants to dissolve parliament soon. He reportedly wants to push a bill extending Japan's anti-terror law, which is due to expire on 1 November.

Spoiling for a fight

The opposition has already geared up for the election. Last week, the DPJ released a 16-page manifesto - compared to the ruling LDP's slender one-page document - complete with detailed facts and figures.

"It is important that government alternates between parties," DPJ leader Naoto Kan told a news conference.

"The most significant thing about this merger is that it means we can offer the people of Japan a choice between different parties."

The LDP has ruled Japan, either alone or as part of a constitution, almost continuously for the last 50 years.

But critics have questioned the logic of a merger between the left-leaning DPJ and the hawkish smaller Liberal Party.

The DPJ's new manifesto left out all the key issues - foreign policy, defence and the constitution - that divide it from its new partner.