The Liberal Democratic Party held onto its No. 1 position in the fifth and final pre-election poll by Kyodo News, while the Democratic Party of Japan managed to replace the recently formed Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) in second place.
In the nationwide telephone poll conducted Wednesday and Thursday, 22.9 percent of the 1,219 respondents said they intend to vote for the LDP in the proportional representation segment of Sunday's election, up 1.8 percentage points from the previous poll conducted last Saturday and Sunday.
Asked who would be more suitable as prime minister — current Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who heads the DPJ, or LDP chief Shinzo Abe — 34.2 percent of the respondents said Abe and 28.7 percent Noda. In the previous survey, Abe got 39.2 percent and Noda 30.7 percent.