Nearly half of voters call DPJ's landslide victory 'good': poll+

TOKYO, Sept. 1 Kyodo -
Nearly half of eligible voters across Japan approve of the Democratic Party of
Japan's victory in Sunday's general election and an imminent change of
government, a Kyodo News survey showed Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 71.1 percent said they have high expectations for the leadership of
DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama, who is certain to become the next prime minister,
while 20.2 percent said they do not expect much of Hatoyama.
In the telephone survey conducted Monday and Tuesday, in the wake of the DPJ's
landslide win that ended the Liberal Democratic Party's dominant position in
Japanese politics, 49.2 percent of those responding said the election outcome
is good, while 42.3 percent said it is neither good nor bad.
On the LDP's historic defeat, 47.2 percent said they do not see it as either
good or bad, while 44.8 percent said the loss is good.
The results of the survey also showed that 41.1 percent said they support the
DPJ, an all-time high for the party in Kyodo News polls.
A total of 19.0 percent said they support the LDP, followed by 5.1 percent for
the New Komeito party, the LDP's coalition partner that also suffered a
crushing defeat on Sunday.
The Japanese Communist Party received the support of 3.4 percent of
respondents, ahead of 2.4 percent for the recently formed Your Party, 2.1
percent for the Social Democratic Party and 1.5 percent for the People's New
Party. The New Party Nippon gained 0.1 percent, while 22.9 percent of
respondents said they do not support a particular political party.
Asked about what the Hatoyama Cabinet slated for launch soon should tackle
first, 40.2 percent picked the economy and employment conditions, ahead of 39.7
percent for administrative and fiscal reform such as ending wasteful spending
of taxpayer money, followed by 35.2 percent for social security issues
including reforming the nation's pension system.
On what they expect of Hatoyama, accountability came first with 26.6 percent,
while 24.9 percent said the ability to heed to the general public, followed by
17.6 percent for leadership.
Honesty and modesty ranked fourth with 13.3 percent ahead of 12.0 percent for
morality and purity in his politics.
Asked about who will be best suited to replace outgoing Taro Aso as head of the
LDP, 29.1 percent favored Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe,
followed by 12.2 percent for LDP Acting Secretary General Nobuteru Ishihara and
10.5 percent for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Kyodo News conducted the survey through phone calls made to computer-generated
numbers. A total of 1,475 eligible voters were reached, of whom 1,027 replied.
==Kyodo