JCP attracts third largest support from uncommitted voters

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP attracts third largest support from uncommitted voters

According to exit polls in the general election on August 30 by Kyodo News and the daily Yomiuri Shimbun, the Japanese Communist Party obtained the third largest support from those who said that they were not committed to any particular party. The Democratic Party (DPJ) obtained the highest number of support from among this group, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The DPJ got 51.6 percent of votes from this group in the proportional representation election, the LDP 15.6 percent, and the JCP 8.9 percent, according to Kyodo News.

In the previous 2005 general election, the LDP won 32.6 percent support of this group, but it halved the ratio this time. The figure for the JCP slightly increased during the same period.

The Asahi Shimbun evening edition on August 31 reported that a survey showed that about 12 percent of those who expressed to support the JCP actually voted for the DPJ.

However, the JCP is the only party among major parties other than the DPJ that increased votes in the proportional representation election. This means that the JCP succeeded in getting more supporting votes from conservatives and other sectors than the votes that left it and moved to the DPJ.

- Akahata, September 1, 2009