Japan's DPJ likely to garner 300 seats in general election: Kyodo survey

TOKYO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) appears likely to secure over 300 seats out of the total 480 in the upcoming general election, an overall majority that would oust the ruling party from power, Kyodo News said Sunday.

 The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) seems set to lose its hold on government as the ruling party could be reduced to slightly over 100 seats, down from the 300 it held heading into the campaign following the dissolution of the powerful lower house on July 21.

The campaign for the Aug. 30 House of Representatives election officially kicked off Tuesday when a total of 1,374 people filed for candidacy. Of the total, 1,139 are running in the 300 single-seat constituencies and 888 in the 180-seat proportional representation section divided into 11 regional blocks, including 653 who are listed in both sections of the election.

The LDP is fielding a total of 326 candidates while the DPJ, which had 112 seats at the time of the Diet dissolution, is putting up a combined 330. It is the first time that the number of DPJ candidates has surpassed that of LDP candidates in a general election.

Under the single-seat system, the Kyodo's survey and analysis found that DPJ candidates would likely perform well enough to secure seats in roughly 190 constituencies and find themselves at least in close races in about 50 other districts. Proportional representation blocks could see the DPJ earn a record 90 seats, exceeding the 77 that the LDP won in a landslide victory in the previous general election four years ago.

The estimates followed a telephone survey by Kyodo News conducted Thursday through Saturday of 203,448 households across the country, which received responses from 155,148 eligible voters.

Of those surveyed, 36.3 percent said they have yet to decide which candidate or party they will vote for in single-seat districts while 32.8 percent provided the same answer for the proportional representation section, leaving room for a possible change in the overall situation ahead of voting.

However, an Asahi Shimbun survey released Saturday found the majority of unaffiliated voters would choose DPJ.