Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was re-elected Wednesday for a second term following the Nov. 9 House of Representatives general election that returned his coalition to power.

Koizumi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, beat Naoto Kan, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, with a 281-186 vote majority in the 480-seat Lower House. The vote was held at the start of a special nine-day session.

"Because the ruling coalition won a stable majority in the general election, I take it as the voice of the Japanese people telling me to move on with my reform steps," Koizumi told a news conference after his re-election. "Against any criticism or hardships, I will carry on my responsibility to make the buds of reform grow into a big tree."

The LDP now has 245 seats in the chamber, including former members of the New Conservative Party and independent candidates who joined the LDP after the Lower House election. Its coalition partner, New Komeito, has 34 seats.

The DPJ has a Diet group of 180 seats, including three independent lawmakers who will ally with the party during Diet deliberations.

In the House of Councilors, Koizumi beat Kan by a 136-81 majority. In both houses, members of the DPJ and Social Democratic Party backed Kan, while Japanese Communist Party members voted for their leader, Kazuo Shii.

Koizumi retained all of his 17 Cabinet ministers, who were named in September after Koizumi won the LDP's presidential race.

Koizumi's renewed administration faces a number of tough issues, including a decision on when to dispatch Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq and mapping out a public pension reform plan by the end of the year.

Despite deteriorating security conditions in Iraq, Koizumi vowed Japan will "actively contribute" to reconstruction work there by sending SDF troops and civilians.

"Japan must play an important role in reconstruction as a responsible member of the international community," he said.

He remained noncommittal about when the troops would be sent to Iraq, however, calling the current security situation "difficult." Koizumi reiterated that he will make a decision on the timing of the dispatch "by carefully watching the situation."

The government had hoped to send troops by the end of the year. But this plan has become increasingly unlikely due to a string of recent incidents, including a bomb attack on an Italian military police base in southern Iraq, an apparent al-Qaeda threat to attack Tokyo and gun shots fired at the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad.

Referring to managing the coalition government with New Komeito, Koizumi said he is confident that the two parties will be able to cooperate, even on policy issues for which they have different stances, apparently referring to pension reform and the revision of the Constitution. New Komeito wants income taxes raised to finance an increase in the government's share of the public pension system burden, while the LDP is against boosting taxes.

"We have different opinions on some issues, but I am confident that we can (overcome our differences) by respecting each other's stance," Koizumi said.

During the day's plenary session of the Diet, former Foreign Minister Yohei Kono was elected speaker of the Lower House.