Former Chief Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura of the Liberal Democratic Party Sunday defeated a Democratic Party of Japan candidate in a Lower House by-election in Hokkaido's No. 5 constituency. The DPJ's defeat in the first Diet-level election since the inauguration of the Kan administration could deal the DPJ administration a serious blow. In particular, the administration may face difficulty in getting the fiscal 2010 supplementary budget passed through the Diet.
Voter turnout was only 53.48 percent, or 22.84 points below the turnout for the 2009 Lower House election. Even so, the election result shows that the DPJ is still unable to overcome voters' criticism of the DPJ over the issue of money and politics. The by-election followed DPJ Lower House member Chiyomi Kobayashi's resignation over her campaign's acceptance of illegal funds from the Hokkaido Teachers' Union.
The DPJ faces an ongoing money and politics issue. Because of a decision by a citizens judicial panel in Tokyo, former DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa will be indicted over alleged funds reporting irregularities.
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