The United States on Sunday congratulated Japan on historic elections and stressed that the allies would remain close partners on the international stage, according to dpa. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) made history Sunday with an overwhelming victory in the general election, ending half a century of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rule. "We are confident that the strong US-Japan alliance and the close partnership between our two countries will continue to flourish under the leadership of the next government in Tokyo," the White House said in a statement. "President Obama looks forward to working closely with the new Japanese prime minister on a broad range of global, regional and bilateral issues." The US State Department in Washington said the governments would continue to work closely on issues such as ending the North Korean nuclear programme, climate change, energy and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The DPJ won more than 300 in the 480-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the parliament. The result was effectively a reversal of the last general election in 2005, when former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi led the LDP to a landslide victory with 296 seats. The DPJ was expected to hold talks with members of its two opposition allies, the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party, on forming a coalition government.
