Asahi Shimbun September 2007 Opinion Polls - Election for LDP President

Dates Conducted

September 15 and 16, 2007

Released

September 17, 2007

Methodology

The poll was conducted by telephone on September 15 and 16, 2007, of voters from across Japan, whose telephone numbers were selected by a computer at random. Subjects were selected using a three-stage random sampling method (the Asahi RDD). The total number of those polled was 152, with a 65% response rate. The numbers in [ ] are the percentages of those polled as compared to the entire population of those who answered.

Key Issues

Election of LDP President
Policy issues to be addressed by new prime minister

Disclaimer

The Mansfield Foundation is responsible for the translation of this Asahi Shimbun poll, subject to the Mansfield Foundation Terms of Use

Q1. Which political party do you currently support? (Numbers in parentheses are…)

Liberal Democratic Party	32%(30)
Democratic Party of Japan	24%(28)
Komeito	1%(3)
Japan Communist Party	2%(2)
Social Democratic Party	1%(1)
The People's New Party	0%(0)
The New Party of Japan	0%(0)
Others	0%(0)
Do not support any party	35%(30)
No answer/do not know	5%(6)

Q2. The election for president of the Liberal Democratic Party has begun. The person elected president of the LDP will, for all intents and purposes, become the next prime minister. Are you interested in the election of the LDP president, or not? (Numbers in parentheses are the results from a poll conducted on September 8 and 9, 2006)

Interested	69%(63)
Not interested	29%(35)

Q3. Yasuo Fukuda and Taro Aso have declared their candidacy for LDP president. Which of the two do you think is most suited to be the next prime minister—Mr. Fukuda or Mr. Aso? (Please select one.)

YasuoFukuda	53%
Taro Aso	21%

SQ1. Why? (Please select one.) (Numbers on the left are reasons selected by the 53% for Yasuo Fukuda and the numbers on the right are reasons selected by the 21% for Taro Aso.)

Policies and philosophy are good	17%[9]	36%[8]
Feeling of stability	62%[33]	22%[5]
Likeability	17%[9]	34%[7]

Q4. Which of the following two personality types do you think is best suited for the office of prime minister? (Please select one.)

A decisive person who pursues his own ideas	31%
An accommodating person who listens closely to people's ideas	62%

Q5. What is the policy issue that you want the next prime minister to put the most emphasis on? (Please select one.)

Pension issue	32%
Economic disparities issue	30%
Foreign policy and security	16%
Fiscal reconstruction	19%

Q6. Prime Minister Abe actively pursued constitutional reform. Do you want the next prime minister to continue this pursuit, or not?

Follow the precedent	45%
Not follow the precedent	45%

Q7. Do you want the next prime minister to continue the educational-reform policy pursued by Prime Minister Abe, or not?

Continue	63%
Not continue	28%

Q8. Prime Minister Abe inherited the reformist policies pursued by Prime Minister Koizumi, which focused on economic growth and competition. Do you want the next prime minister to inherit these reformist policies, or not?

Inherit	54%
Not inherit	36%