(07/19/09) -

Main Parties Face Oblivious Electorate in Japan

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Japan heads to a legislative election with a large proportion of its population either not knowing who they will vote for or shunning the country’s two main parties, according to a poll by Yomiuri. 43 per cent of respondents remain undecided or would vote for minor parties in this year’s election to the House of Representatives, up 11 points since June.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Japan heads to a legislative election with a large proportion of its population either not knowing who they will vote for or shunning the country’s two main parties, according to a poll by Yomiuri. 43 per cent of respondents remain undecided or would vote for minor parties in this year’s election to the House of Representatives, up 11 points since June.

The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is first with 36 per cent, followed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) with 21 per cent.

Aside from a brief period in the 1990s, the LDP has administered Japan’s government for more than five decades. An election to renew half of the House of Councillors seats took place in July 2007. Final results gave the opposition DPJ 60 of the 121 seats at stake, with the governing LDP winning 37 mandates. The opposition—with 137 seats—now holds a majority in the upper house of Japan’s Diet for the first time since the LDP was founded in 1955.

Since the retirement of Junichiro Koizumi, Japan has had three different LDP leaders and prime ministers. Shinzo Abe served from September 2006 to September 2007, and was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda. In September 2008, Fukuda announced he would step down as he felt "swamped" by the country’s issues. Foreign minister Taro Aso won an internal leadership ballot and was sworn in as Japan’s new prime minister.

In May, Yukio Hatoyama defeated Katsuya Okada in an internal ballot of DPJ lawmakers to become the new DPJ leader.

On Jul. 16, Hatoyama vowed to respect existing guidelines stating that Japan shall not allow any nuclear weapons in its territory, declaring, "The three non-nuclear principles are a fundamental policy of Japan, to be firmly upheld, and we should not give light opinions about the issue."

The next election to the House of Representatives will take place on Aug. 30.

Polling Data

Which party would you vote for in the proportional representation election?

Source: Yomiuri
Methodology: Interviews with 1,047 Japanese voters, conducted from Jul. 13, 2009. No margin of error was provided.