Koizumi holds on to lead on eve of polls

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling party held onto its solid lead on the eve of Japan's election, an opinion poll showed on Saturday, making the question not whether he would win, but by how much.
A resounding victory would strengthen Koizumi's grip on power and allow him to forge ahead with reforms, starting with the privatisation of the postal system, opposition to which from within his own party prompted him to call the snap election.
Koizumi has cast the election as a referendum on postal privatisation - a symbol of his broader agenda for change.
"I hope the majority of the people will surely make a judgement that the post office can be run by the private sector," Koizumi told a packed hall in central Tokyo late on Saturday.
"Lawmakers don't serve the interests of particular groups, they must serve the interests of the people," he added, as many in the crowd snapped photos with their cell phones and took video of Koizumi, casual in an open-necked blue shirt.
Thirty percent of respondents to the survey, which was published by the daily Asahi Shimbun, said they would vote for Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the proportional representation (PR) section of the election, 11 percentage points ahead of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The Asahi figures, largely in line with previous surveys, showed that the Democrats have failed to turn a tide which has run overwhelmingly in favour of the maverick Koizumi, who sprang to power in 2001 promising to change the LDP, or destroy it.
Most polls have pointed to a combined majority for the LDP and its coalition partner, the New Komeito, in the 480-seat lower house of parliament. Some even predict the LDP could win a majority on its own for first time in 15 years.
Democrat leader Katsuya Okada has sought to counter Koizumi by insisting real reform could only be achieved by ousting the LDP, which has ruled Japan for most of the past five decades.
The LDP had 249 seats and the New Komeito 34 before the lower house was dissolved, against 175 for the Democrats. However, the LDP refused to put 37 rebels who voted against postal reform on the party ticket.
Analysts said that although the LDP-led coalition looked set for a victory, the size of its majority would hinge on the mostly-urban voters with no affiliation to political parties.
The Asahi survey showed that 28 percent of voters had not decided which party to vote for in the PR section.