33% say economy was top issue in Japan's Lower House election, poll finds

Around 33% of the electorate viewed economic policies as the most important issue in Sunday's general election, a Kyodo News survey showed Tuesday.

The two-day nationwide telephone survey conducted following Sunday's House of Representatives vote also found that 42.5% of respondents thought opposition parties should have won more seats.

The Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and its junior coalition partner Komeito achieved a comfortable majority of 293 seats in the 465-seat Lower House.

Among the opposition, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) won 96 seats, Nippon Ishin no Kai secured 41 and the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) took 10.

In the survey, 39.9% of the respondents said the outcome was appropriate, while 14.0% said the ruling coalition should have won more seats.

The CDP and JCP lost seats despite coordinating candidates in more than 200 single-member districts to avoid splitting the anti-LDP vote.

In the survey, 61.5% said the opposition parties should change their strategy, while 32.2% said they should continue using it.

The public support rate for the Kishida Cabinet stood at 58.1%, up from 55.7% at its launch in early October.