A majority of the public opposes the prospect of the Abe administration amending the Constitution, the results of a nationwide telephone survey show.
The results of the survey, conducted Friday and Saturday by Kyodo News, said about 56.5 percent of the respondents are against the idea of revising the war-renouncing 1947 Constitution under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while one-third, or 33.4 percent, support it.
A strong showing by the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition in the crucial House of Councilors election this summer could give it the two-thirds majority needed in both houses of the Diet to hold a national referendum on amending the supreme law, Abe's lifelong dream.
The support rate for Abe's Cabinet stands at 48.3 percent, essentially unchanged from 48.4 in late March, while its disapproval rate is 40.3 percent, up slightly from 39.5 percent.
Just under two-thirds of the respondents applauded the Abe government's response to the deadly earthquakes in Kyushu last month, while 64.5 percent had a positive or mildly positive opinion.
Abenomics, Abe's growth plan based on radical monetary easing, fiscal spending and reform vows, will likely be on the agenda for the Upper House election.
A total of 57.0 percent of the respondents said they feel the disparities in living standards between rich and poor have worsened under Abenomics, while 34.6 percent disagreed.
Several opposition parties are getting behind united candidates for the election to thwart the LDP, a strategy that 52.6 percent of the respondents said was positive and 39.1 percent said was negative, the survey said.