By HIROSHI KIMIJIMA/ Staff Writer
November 20, 2023 at 18:04 JST
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is considered the “most suitable” for prime minister by voters from among seven ruling party lawmakers, including incumbent Fumio Kishida, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey.
Koizumi was picked by 16 percent of survey respondents in the “suitability” question, followed closely by Shigeru Ishiba, former Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general, at 15 percent, and Taro Kono, minister for digital transformation, at 13 percent.
The other four were each chosen by less than 10 percent.
Sanae Takaichi, minister of economic security, gained 8 percent of the picks, Kishida received 7 percent, and former Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi each got 1 percent.
However, 36 percent of respondents said none of the seven is suitable for prime minister, highlighting the lack of a clear public favorite to lead the country.
The Asahi Shimbun conducted the nationwide telephone survey on Nov. 18 and 19.
Since Shinzo Abe became prime minister for the second time in 2012, Koizumi, Ishiba and Kono have ranked high in surveys on voters’ preferences for prime minister.
Although they were the top three in the latest survey, the percentages suggest they have lost a considerable amount of public support.
Takaichi, an outspoken conservative who was close to Abe and has shown her interest in succeeding Kishida, was chosen by 11 percent of male respondents but only 5 percent of women, the survey showed.
Motegi, who heads the third-largest LDP faction, and Hayashi, who is the No. 2 individual in the Kishida faction, the fourth largest, are considered influential in the political arena, but they are not particularly well known among the public.
Among LDP supporters, Koizumi was picked by 19 percent, followed by Kono at 17 percent, Kishida and Ishiba at 15 percent each, and Takaichi at 9 percent.
The survey was conducted through calls to randomly selected telephone numbers. There were 441 valid responses from voters contacted via landline and 645 from those contacted by cellphone.
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Shinjiro Koizumi (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
