DPJ widens lead over LDP in latest Kyodo survey on general election

TOKYO, Aug. 10 Kyodo -
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan has widened its lead over the
ruling Liberal Democratic Party in party support, continuing its solid
advantage three weeks ahead of a national election, the latest Kyodo News
survey showed Monday.
In the nationwide telephone poll conducted Saturday and Sunday, 34.1 percent of
respondents said they will vote for the DPJ in the proportional representation
section of the Aug. 30 House of Representatives election, compared with 34.4
percent in the previous survey a week earlier, while 13.3 percent said they
will choose the LDP, down from 16.7 percent.
Of the other respondents, 38 percent said they have not yet decided on which
party to vote for, up from 37.6 percent a week earlier, according to the weekly
survey -- the fourth of its kind since Prime Minister Taro Aso announced his
intention in mid-July to call the upcoming election.
A similar trend of voter preference has been found for single-seat
constituencies as 35.2 percent said they will pick DPJ candidates, up from 33.9
percent, while 14.8 percent said they prefer LDP candidates, down from 16.9
percent.
Since the first such survey conducted shortly before the dissolution of the
lower house on July 21, support ratings stayed above 30 percent for the DPJ and
hovered between 10 and 20 percent for the LDP.
Asked what type of administration they would prefer after the election, 40.9
percent of those polled said they favor a DPJ-led government, up from 39.7
percent, while 17.0 percent said they prefer a government led by the LDP, down
from 18.2 percent.
Twelve percent prefer a grand coalition government between the LDP and DPJ,
down from 15.0 percent, while 18.8 percent said they hope to see a government
formed under a new framework through the realignment of political parties, up
from 15.4 percent.
The approval rating for Aso's Cabinet fell to 17.7 percent from 19.9 percent,
while the disapproval rating rose to 72.9 percent from 67.6 percent, the latest
survey showed.
Asked about who is most suited for the post of prime minister, 49.5 percent
chose DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama, up from 46.6 percent, while 19.8 percent
picked Aso, slightly up from 19.7 percent.
In voter support in the proportional representation section, the New Komeito
party followed the DPJ and LDP in third place with 3.8 percent, ahead of 3.6
percent for the Japanese Communist Party, 1.4 percent for the Social Democratic
Party and 0.7 percent for the People's New Party.
Among respondents who said they do not usually support a particular political
party, 37.9 percent said they would choose the DPJ, down from 40.6 percent,
while 17.6 percent of such swing voters picked the LDP, up from 17.1 percent.
The survey was conducted using calls made to numbers randomly generated by
computers. A total of 1,769 eligible voters were reached, of whom 1,239
replied.
==Kyodo