63% of Japanese Voters Say Ruling Party Should Have More Seats

Yomiuri Shimbun Poll... Kishida Cabinet Approval Rating Drops 4%P to 52%

On the 14th, the dissolution of the House of Representatives was declared at the Diet Building in Tokyo, Japan. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Six out of ten Japanese voters hope for a victory of the ruling party in the upcoming election on the 31st.

Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 16th that a nationwide telephone survey, both landline and mobile, was conducted by NNN Broadcasting from the 14th to 15th targeting voters aged 18 and older (1,044 respondents), revealing these results.

When asked "What would be the desirable distribution of seats between the ruling and opposition parties?", 63% answered that they want the ruling party to hold more seats than the opposition, including 16% who said "the ruling party greatly exceeds" and 47% who said "the ruling party slightly exceeds."

This indicates a prevailing public opinion favoring the continuation of the coalition cabinet between the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito.

The current ruling Liberal Democratic Party holds 276 seats (210 constituency seats, 66 proportional representation seats), which is 59.4% of the 465 seats in the House of Representatives. The coalition partner Komeito holds 29 seats (8 constituency seats, 21 proportional representation seats).

When asked which party they would vote for in the proportional representation vote in this general election, 44% of respondents said the Liberal Democratic Party, and 12% said the main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party.

The approval rating of the Kishida Fumio Cabinet, launched on the 4th of this month, is 52%, down 4 percentage points compared to the previous Yomiuri-NNN poll conducted on the 4th and 5th of this month.

Meanwhile, when asked "Are you interested in this general election?", 73% of respondents expressed interest, combining 29% who said "very interested" and 44% who said "somewhat interested."