Kyodo

The chief of the nation's largest business lobby on Monday welcomed the Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory in the general election and called for strong leadership in rebuilding the economy, promoting free trade and other issues.

The victory "is an indication of people's expectations for the LDP's capability to rebuild the economy, as well as a demonstration of their harsh assessment of the government led by the Democratic Party of Japan," Keidanren Chairman Hiromasa Yonekura said in a statement.

Yonekura said the country faces many important issues, including reconstruction from the massive earthquake and tsunami last year, the promotion of deregulation, and festering diplomatic and security problems. "Strong political leadership is essential to resolve these issues," Yonekura said, calling on the LDP to launch a new Cabinet swiftly to draft new policies.

Yonekura urged the new government to enter negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade accord, saying, "There is no time to lose."

Meanwhile, an electricity industry body called on the LDP to review the policy for phasing out nuclear energy in the 2030s that was advocated, but not officially endorsed, by the DPJ government. "We want the new government to review the plan and achieve a more realistic energy policy," Makoto Yagi, head of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan and president of Kansai Electric Power Co., said in a statement.