Japan’s Takaichi seeks mandate, improved majority with snap election: poll

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, has extended its lead from last week in a new poll on the race ahead of the February 8 election, with 36.1 per cent backing the party, up 6.9 percentage points, the survey showed on Sunday.The Centrist Reform Alliance, a new major opposition force, was second with 13.9 per cent, up 2.0 points. At the single-constituency level, the survey conducted over two days from Saturday showed that 44.0 per cent would vote for ruling camp-backed candidates in the House of Representatives election, while 26.5 per cent would back opposition rivals.Those hoping the ruling bloc would win more seats than the opposition stood at 42.4 per cent. The snap election was called in January as Takaichi seeks to expand her months-old coalition government’s razor-thin majority in the powerful lower house.The election outlook remains uncertain, however, with 27.2 per cent saying they have yet to decide whom to vote for in constituencies and 21.3 per cent undecided on their choice for the proportional representation list.The poll showed an approval rating of 63.6 per cent for Takaichi’s Cabinet, up just 0.5 points from the previous survey in late January. The disapproval rate was also largely unchanged at 25.6 per cent, up 0.6 points.Enthusiasm for the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, a new party formed by the Japan" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="10720" data-entity-type="organization">Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Komeito party, the LDP’s former governing coalition partner, was low, with 71.0 per cent saying they do not expect much from it, up 4.0 points.The Centrist Reform Alliance is under pressure to prove it can unite voters from its founding parties, with co-leader Yoshihiko Noda telling reporters Sunday he would bear a “heavy responsibility” if the new party fails to retain the seats its members are defending in the election.