Some 28 percent of eligible voters said they support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party but the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan was maintaining its support in a Kyodo News poll released Saturday, two weeks before the Nov. 9 general election.
Support for the LDP stood at 27.9 percent, down 11 points from a similar poll two weeks ago, and 50.5 percent supported the Cabinet, off 9.1 points, in the phone survey of 1,247 randomly selected eligible voters conducted Thursday and Friday.
Asked which party they will vote for in the proportional representation bloc in the House of Representatives election, 18 percent said they will vote for the DPJ, which merged with the smaller opposition Liberal Party last month, down 0.6 point, bringing the gap between its support and that for the LDP to 10 points.
According to the survey, 5.2 percent said they will vote for New Komeito, 3 percent for the Japanese Communist Party and 0.5 percent for the Social Democratic Party, while 0.2 percent said they will vote for politicians who describe themselves as independents.
However, 36.1 percent of those surveyed said they have not yet decided which party to vote for.
Asked which party they support, 68.1 percent said they do not support any particular party.
Among the unaffiliated voters, 20 percent indicated they will probably vote for the LDP and 16.5 percent for the DPJ, while 46.6 percent have yet to decide.
The disapproval rate for the Cabinet stood at 36.9 percent, up 7.2 points.
Political analysts said the Cabinet's support rate has been affected by its recent mishandling of the dismissal of Japan Highway Public Corp. head Haruho Fujii and by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's request for the resignation of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.