'LDP or DPJ?': survey conducted by media companies

"Which do you prefer, the Liberal Democratic Party or the Democratic Party of Japan?" A man in Shizuoka Prefecture was asked this question in a Mainichi Shimbun survey.

When he said, "Both parties are bad," he was told, "Then you don't have any answer to this question."

The Japanese Communist Party headquarters has received several phone calls criticizing such election surveys conducted by media companies for "manipulating public opinion."

A 47-year-old man in Tokyo reported to JCP headquarters that an Asashi Shimbun survey asked him to choose between a LDP-led government and DPJ-led government after the general election. When he asked if there are any other choices, he was told, "No."

A resident of Nagoya City answered to the same question, "The Japanese Communist Party" and was told, "Never mind the JCP. Which of the two parties do you prefer?"

One of the people who called JCP headquarters expressed his concern, "It seems those surveys are trying to manipulate citizens into accepting the two-party system." (end)