MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - Voting is underway in Japan in a general election expected to end the Liberal Democratic Party's long-running grip on power.
Opinion polls suggest a landslide victory for the Democratic Party of Japan led by Yukio Hatoyama, who has pledged a range of ambitious healthcare and education spending plans.
Japan has been hard-hit by the global economic slowdown, with unemployment at a record high, sparking dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Taro Aso's conservative government.
A victory for the Democratic Party in the lower house of parliament would end half a century of almost continual rule by the LDP.
Polling stations close at 20:00 Tokyo time (11:00 GMT) on Sunday.
