2002 expected to be year of political truce.

2002 expected to be year of political truce

Yomiuri

With no House of Councillors or unified local elections scheduled for this year, 2002 will see no major election battle unless Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolves the House of Representatives for a snap general election.

As a senior Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker put it, 2002 will be the first "year of political truce" since 1997.

The last year to witness three major elections was 1983. Since then, there have been five years in which no major elections have been held: 1984, 1985, 1988, 1994 and 1997.

However, with the exception of 1984, political parties spent those …