(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Almost half of people in Japan would welcome an early legislative ballot soon, according to a poll by Nikkei. 24 per cent of respondents think an election to the House of Representatives should be held as soon as possible, while a further 24 per cent want the ballot to take place before the end of this year.

An additional 12 per cent of respondents say there should be a legislative election in early 2009, and 31 per cent say there is no need for a snap ballot.

In the September 2005 House of Representatives ballot, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)—led at the time by Junichiro Koizumi—elected 296 lawmakers to the 480-seat lower house. The LDP is supported by the New Komeito Clean Government Party (Kt).

An election to renew half of the House of Councillors seats took place in July 2007. Final results gave the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (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.

In September 2007, Yasuo Fukuda was elected as the new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and officially sworn in as Japan’s prime minister, substituting Shinzo Abe. Fukuda served as chief cabinet secretary during the premierships of Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi. He is also the son of former Japanese head of government Takeo Fukuda.

The next lower house election is not due to take place until September 2009.

On Jun. 23, Fukuda rejected calls for an early ballot, saying, "I’m always asking myself if it’s time for dissolution. But first we have to implement policies rather than troubling people. That’s my duty".

Polling Data

When should the next election to the House of Representatives take place?

Source: Nikkei
Methodology: Interviews with 900 Japanese adults, conducted from Jun. 27 to Jun. 29, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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