Nearly 38 percent of Japanese voters support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, although the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan was gaining in a Kyodo News poll released Saturday, less than a month before a general election on Nov. 9.
Support for the LDP stood at 37.9 percent, down 1.3 points from September, while 59.6 percent backed the Cabinet, off 7.2 points, in the phone survey of 1,023 randomly selected people conducted Friday and Saturday.
But support for the DPJ, which merged with the smaller opposition Liberal Party late last month, was at 17.7 percent, up 3.6 points.
The disapproval rate for the Cabinet stood at 29.7 percent, up 5.4 points. Respondents cited dissatisfaction with the government's economic policies as the main reason, accounting for 43.4 percent of the responses.
Asked what kind of government they would like after the House of Representatives election, 26.6 percent of the respondents said they hope the current coalition of the LDP, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party will continue.
Another 19.3 percent said they want a government of opposition parties centering on the DPJ, 15.5 percent want an alliance of the LDP and the DPJ, and 10.2 percent want to see the LDP ruling alone.
However, only 10.4 percent predicted the opposition parties will take over, compared with 77.7 percent who do not believe they can replace the LDP-led coalition.
Nearly 42 percent said they will closely examine newly legalized campaign tracts when they select candidates, while 20 percent said they will ignore party manifestos.
