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TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso plans to call a general election on Aug 30, a top ruling party official said yesterday, despite the prospect that his long-ruling conservative party is headed for a historic defeat.

A Democratic Party victory in the national election would end half a century of nearly unbroken rule by the business-friendly Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and raise the chance of resolving political deadlocks as Japan tries to recover from its worst recession since World War II.

The decision to call the vote, which must be held by October anyway, follows a crushing loss for the unpopular Aso's ruling party in a Tokyo election on Sunday that was seen as a barometer for the national poll.