Liberal Dems poised to win Japan election

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TOKYO, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Final polls in Japan suggest Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democrat Party are the favorites in Sunday's general elections, analysts say.

Japan's an election is likely to give the country its seventh prime minister in six years, and probably give Abe a second term in the office.

Abe was ousted as prime minister in 2007 after just a year in office and his party lost power three years ago when voters opted for the Democratic Party of Japan.

Until then, the Liberal Democrats had held on to power for about five decades.

"Because the Liberal Democrats have been in power traditionally for quite a long time they're seen as more a competent governing party," John Lee, an adjunct associate professor at the Center for International Security Studies at Sydney University, told CNN.

The BBC said incumbent Yoshihiko Noda and the DPJ saw their popularity plummet in the past three years, largely due to the struggling economy and the stunning blow caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.