Poll: LDP picked for all issues except ‘foreign resident policy'

Asahi Shimbun

13 hours ago

The leaders of 10 political parties vying for 125 seats in the Upper House. The election will be held on July 20. (The Asahi Shimbun)
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is the voters' top choice for dealing with the main issues in the Upper House election, but the rates all fall below a majority, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.
The survey, conducted on July 13 and 14, asked eligible voters to choose the single most important policy from five options when deciding how to vote in the July 20 Upper House election.
The most common answer was 'measures against rising prices,' at 42 percent, followed by 'social security,' at 22 percent, 'education and child-rearing,' at 14 percent, 'diplomacy and defense,' at 9 percent, and 'policy on foreign residents,' at 7 percent.
A breakdown of expected proportional representation votes was used to match respondents' preferred parties with the policies.
Among those prioritizing 'measures against rising prices,' 27 percent said they would vote for the LDP, followed by 15 percent for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, 13 percent for the Democratic Party for the People, and 12 percent for Sanseito.
Ten percent chose the LDP's junior coalition partner,Komeito, and 8 percent picked Reiwa Shinsengumi.
A similar pattern emerged for 'social security,' with 28 percent choosing the LDP, 17 percent favoring the CDP, 12 percent selecting the DPP, and 11 percent opting for Sanseito. Nine percent picked Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), and 8 percent chose Komeito.
The LDP also led for 'education and child-rearing,' at 21 percent, followed by 16 percent each for the DPP and Sanseito, and 12 percent for the CDP.
The LDP gained a large lead in 'diplomacy and defense,' chosen by 44 percent of respondents. The CDP trailed at 11 percent, Sanseito at 10 percent and the DPP at 9 percent.
The only category in which the LDP didn't lead was 'policy on foreign residents.'
Sanseito, which promotes 'Japanese first' policies, received the most support for this category, at 44 percent, while 11 percent picked the LDP.
The DPP gained 9 percent and the Conservative Party of Japan was selected by 8 percent.
Twenty-nine percent of all respondents said they 'value' information about politics and elections gained from social media and video platforms, up from 27 percent in an earlier poll for the Upper House election.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they 'do not value' such information, unchanged from the earlier poll.
Among those who value social media information, Sanseito was the most popular choice for the proportional representation portion, at 27 percent, up from 24 percent in the earlier poll.
Sanseito was followed by the DPP at 20 percent, up from 19 percent, the LDP at 14 percent, down from 17 percent, and Reiwa at 8 percent, down from 10 percent.
The Asahi Shimbun conducted the survey on eligible voters using both landline and mobile phone numbers randomly generated by computer.
A total of 12,188 of 26,112 voters who received the phone call provided valid responses.