TOKYO - Half of Japanese voters want Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition to lose its majority in the House of Councillors in next month's election, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday.
The nationwide telephone poll conducted Saturday and Sunday found that 50.2 percent of respondents want the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito party to lose their upper house majority, while 38.1 percent want them to retain control following the July 20 election.
The ruling coalition lost its majority in the lower house in the general election in October.
The LDP is still the most popular party among voters as 17.9 percent said they will vote for it in the proportional representation segment, while 9.8 percent expressed support for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, 6.4 percent for the Democratic Party for the People and 5.8 percent for the Sanseito party.
Asked what key election issue matters most in deciding which party or candidate to vote for, 31.9 percent of respondents cited measures against rising prices while 16.9 percent chose pension and other social welfare measures.
To curb the negative impact of rising prices, the LDP plans cash handouts of 20,000 yen ($138) as an election pledge. In a question asking which is more desirable -- such handouts or a cut in the consumption tax -- as a measure to cope with inflation, 70.0 percent chose the tax cut while 23.8 percent preferred cash handouts.
The approval rating for Ishiba's Cabinet stood at 32.4 percent while the disapproval rate was 57.8 percent.
For the survey, 606 randomly selected households with eligible voters and 4,100 mobile phone numbers were called, yielding responses from 508 household members and 746 mobile phone users.
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