Sunday's general elections gave overwhelming approval to the continuation of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform policy. The clear-cut, simple rhetoric employed by Mr. Koizumi, who focused on postal-service privatization and called it the cornerstone of reform during campaigning, won the hearts of voters. In contrast, Mr. Katsuya Okada, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, failed to put together a persuasive message to sell his policy measures.
The election results also point to strong voter support for Mr. Koizumi's maverick political style, which goes against the grain of Japan's postwar politics. Mr. Koizumi went to the extreme of purging opponents of the postal-service privatization bills from his Liberal Democratic Party, drawing a clear line between his political friends and foes.
Certainly, the election results should be viewed as an approval of the postal bills. But they should not be taken as a wholesale mandate for Mr. Koizumi's policy measures as he failed to elaborate on his future reform plans during the campaign.