43.6% support Hatoyama for next premier, 32% support Aso: Kyodo poll+

TOKYO, May 17 Kyodo -
Yukio Hatoyama, the newly elected leader of the main opposition Democratic
Party of Japan, secured the support of 43.6 percent of respondents asked about
their preference for the next prime minister of Japan in a Kyodo News survey
released Sunday, exceeding Prime Minister Taro Aso, who secured 32 percent.
In the emergency nationwide telephone survey conducted Saturday and Sunday
after Hatoyama assumed the presidency of the DPJ, Kyodo asked respondents who
would be more appropriate to serve as the next prime minister, Aso or Hatoyama.
In a survey in late April, Aso exceeded Hatoyama's predecessor, Ichiro Ozawa,
by 13.7 points.
The latest survey, which received responses from 1,026 eligible voters, also
showed that 82.4 percent of the respondents believed Ozawa will continue to
exert an influence on the DPJ even after Hatoyama's election as party
president, showing public suspicion of a ''dual power'' system within the DPJ.
On the election of the new party president, 49 percent said it will not change
the DPJ, while 31.9 percent responded it will have a positive impact on the
party. Meanwhile, 16.2 percent said it will work negatively.
The approval rating for Aso's Cabinet edged down 1.8 percentage points from the
previous survey on May 11 and 12 to 26.2 percent, while the disapproval rating
rose 5.1 points to 60.2 percent.
Asked which party they will vote for in the proportional representation section
in the next House of Representatives election, 25.8 percent said Aso's Liberal
Democratic Party, while 37.3 percent said the DPJ.
As for party approval ratings, the LDP secured 25.2 percent, the DPJ 30
percent, the New Komeito party, the LDP's ruling coalition partner, 4.2
percent, the Japanese Communist Party 3.4 percent, the People's New Party 1.2
percent, and the Social Democratic Party 0.7 percent in the Kyodo survey.
Hatoyama, former secretary general of the DPJ, was elected as the party's new
leader Saturday to succeed Ozawa, beating Vice President Katsuya Okada.
==Kyodo