Japan ruling party support plunges ahead of national election in poll
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A poor showing would cast doubt on Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s political future.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TOKYO – Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) received its lowest score in an opinion poll since returning to power in 2012 in a survey by public broadcaster NHK on July 14, underlining the prospect that the governing bloc may struggle in the July 13 Upper House election.
The LDP’s support fell 4.1 percentage points to 24 per cent in a week, while backing for the LDP-led administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stayed unchanged at 31 per cent, in the poll taken between July 11 and 13.
LDP support has been falling in recent surveys, suggesting that Mr Ishiba’s coalition of LDP and junior partner Komeito may lose its majority in the Upper House too, after losing its Lower House majority in October 2024.
A poor showing would cast doubt on Mr Ishiba’s political future as his shaky government faces an Aug 1 deadline to strike a trade deal with the US, less than two weeks after the vote.
The rise of smaller opposition parties that favour tax cuts and loose monetary policy could also complicate the Bank of Japan’s interest hike schedule.
In the latest NHK poll, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party received 7.8 per cent support, slightly down from a week before, while Sanseito, which has been seen a dark-horse populist conservative group, rose to 5.9 per cent.
Democratic Party for the People registered 4.9 per cent support, LDP partner Komeito 3.5 per cent, Japan Innovation Party 3.1 per cent and Japanese Communist Party 3 per cent, while 33.7 per cent of respondents supported no party. REUTERS
