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TOKYO: The candidate for Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's ruling coalition has suffered a defeat in a key regional poll at the weekend, officials said on Monday, dealing a fresh blow to the embattled leader.
Heita Kawakatsu, 60, backed by the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), won Sunday's neck-and-neck contest for a governor's post in central Shizuoka prefecture with 728,706 votes, local election officials said.
Yukiko Sakamoto, also 60, supported by Aso's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner, won 713,654 votes with all ballots counted, officials said.
It was one of two polls that will likely influence Aso's decision on the timing for a general election he must call by September. The other is the Tokyo assembly election on July 12.
Sakamoto's defeat will be a serious setback for Aso, whose poll ratings have plunged below 20 percent.
The premier, in office less than a year, already faces mounting pressure from within his party to quit the leadership so a new face can lead it into the general election.
Many pundits predict that the LDP, having lost the upper house in 2007, is likely also to lose its large majority in the powerful lower house to the DPJ. - AFP/de
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