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LDP support on the rise
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSTOKYO, Japan -- Support in Japan for the cabinet and the Liberal Democratic Party has risen since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the lower house earlier this month, according to a new opinion poll. Japan will have a general election on September 11. The survey, conducted by the Nihon Keizai financial daily from Saturday to Monday, found 46 percent of respondents backing the LDP, as against 19 percent for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. This suggests Koizumi may be getting the upper hand in the opening phase of the general election campaign, the newspaper reported. Koizumi dissolved the lower house on August 8, making good on his threat to do so after LDP rebels in the upper house helped defeat legislation to privatize Japan's postal operations. Postal privatization was a pillar of Koizumi's reform agenda. The Nihon Keizai opinion survey shows the LDP has been more successful than the DPJ in winning the support of independents. But more than 80 percent of independents remain undecided, the newspaper reported on its Web-site. In the past three national elections under the Koizumi government, the gap between the LDP and its opponents has narrowed as election day neared. But the DPJ has lost ground since the previous poll on August 9-10. Nikkei Research conducted the nationwide survey by phone, with 988 responses from 1,694 households, for a response rate of 58.3 percent. On Monday, Koizumi told reporters he was not thinking of staying in office beyond September 2006 when his term as ruling party leader ends, even if the coalition wins the election next month. There has been speculation recently that Koizumi might extend his term. 
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