Photo/Illutration The National Diet building in Tokyo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Almost 50 percent of respondents in a new nationwide survey supported the Liberal Democratic Party-centered government remaining in power over an opposition party alternative.

In the telephone survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun on Oct. 1 and 2, 48 percent of respondents favored the LDP-led government.

In the same survey, 23 percent preferred a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan-centered government to hold the reins of power. 

In the previous survey conducted in September, 48 percent supported the LDP-led government in continuing, while 27 percent backed one led by the CDP to replace it.

The latter figure decreased slightly.

Even among respondents who disapprove of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s newly appointed Cabinet, 35 percent preferred the LDP-centered government, while 38 percent favored a CDP-centered government.

Among respondents who do not have a specific political party to support, 33 percent backed an LDP-led government. The figure was 36 percent in the previous survey.

Among these, 25 percent chose a CDP-centered government. The figure was 29 percent in the previous survey.

The survey also asked questions related to the LDP’s slush fund scandal and the party's questionable relationship with the former Unification Church, now known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unity.

Seventy-five percent of respondents said that the new prime minister “should proceed” with clarification of the slush fund scandal, far more than the 15 percent who said there was “no need for him to do so.”

Even among the respondents who are LDP supporters, 73 percent said that Ishiba should work to clarify the slush fund scandal.

Overall, 70 percent said that Ishiba “should proceed” with uncovering the actual situation of the former Unification Church issue.

Only 20 percent said that “there is no need to do so.”

Even among LDP supporters, 69 percent said Ishiba “should proceed.”

Voters nationwide were surveyed from the evening of Oct. 1 through the night of Oct. 2 using the RDD method, in which computer-generated phone numbers were randomly generated and pollsters called landline and cellphone numbers.

A total of 1,178 valid responses were received.

For landlines, 497 valid responses were received out of 916 households identified as having a voter. The response rate was 54 percent.

For cellphones, 681 valid responses were tallied out of 1,706 cases in which a voter was called. The response rate was 40 percent.

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