Campaigning for Sunday’s Upper House election entered its final week Monday, with at least one media poll showing that the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition could lose its majority in the chamber.

A Mainichi Shimbun poll, conducted jointly with JNN over the weekend, indicated that the LDP and Komeito could end up with fewer than 50 of the 125 contested seats in the Upper House. If that happens, they would no longer hold a majority in either house of parliament, resulting in the possible resignation of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba along with further political uncertainty and instability.

The same poll also predicted that major opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Democratic Party for the People and Nippon Ishin no Kai, were likely to gain seats or end up around their current levels, while the smaller extreme right-leaning nationalist party Sanseito was expected to do well.

The polls came after weekend campaigning by the ruling and opposition party leaders.

Speaking in Kikuchi, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Sunday, Ishiba admitted that the LDP faced a tough election. He said his party would provide relief to consumers hit by high prices and, in the heavily rural Kumamoto area, pointed to his government’s efforts to lower the price of rice.

Ishiba also said his party was focused on increasing the income of farmers who are cutting costs, exporting products and boosting production.

“We must implement agricultural policies that reward such efforts by the entire nation,” Ishiba said.

Ishiba and the LDP, however, are finding it tough to win over voters. The Mainichi Shimbun poll conducted over the weekend showed the LDP and Komeito face tight races in eight of the 32 districts with one seat up for grabs. Opposition-backed candidates have the edge in 18 other districts.

The poll estimates the ruling coalition could win between 31 and 55 seats, including proportional representation seats, where people vote for a party and the parties distribute seats won among their candidates based on the number of votes it received. The projection was lower than a similar poll conducted earlier this month, which had the two parties winning between 36 and 56 seats.

The LDP, the Mainichi poll predicts, is likely to finish the election with 27 to 43 seats in total, while Komeito is expected to collect between four and 12 seats.

On the other hand, the CDP — the largest opposition party — and the DPP are expected to increase their seat totals. The CDP, which has 22 seats up for reelection, was predicted to win between 23 and 32 seats. The DPP, with four seats up for reelection, is expected to pick up between 11 and 19 seats.

Speaking in the city of Okayama on Sunday, CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda also touched on high consumer prices, seen as the top concern of voters in this election.

“One of the CDP’s pillars is to protect you from high prices, and we have promised to reduce the consumption tax rate to 0%,” Noda said, referring to the party’s goal of eliminating the tax on food items for one year, in principle.

Sanseito, with one member up for reelection, continues to gain momentum with its “Japanese First” policies. It is predicted to win between eight and 17 seats.

Nippon Ishin, which aims to win at least six seats in the election, was only predicted to win between five and seven seats.