The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which won a landslide victory in last month's parliamentary elections, has reached a deal with two smaller parties on forming a coalition government.

The DPJ won an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament but was a few seats shy of a majority in the Senate. The coalition with the Social Democrats and the conservative People's New Party gives the new government control over the Senate as well.
 

Parliament is scheduled to vote DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama in as prime minister on 16 September, ending more than 50 years of unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. The new government is facing a huge task as the Japanese economy has been hard hit by the global economic recession.