ANKARA

Japan's opposition parties are expected to gain more seats in the parliament in the Oct. 27 elections while Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is struggling to retain its majority, a latest survey showed on Thursday.

Tokyo-based Kyodo News conducted the survey, spoke with some 156,000 eligible voters over the phone across the country, and nearly 30% of the respondents said they have not yet decided which candidate they will vote for.

LDP had 256 seats out of 465 members of the lower house while its coalition partner Komeito party had 32 seats in the recently dissolved parliament.

The party will need to win 233 seats to form the next government. Prime Minister Ishiba dissolved the parliament on Oct. 9 to get a fresh mandate.

According to the survey, LDP is leading in only half of 289 single-seat districts and its candidates are facing tough contest on the remaining seats.

In the election, each voter casts two ballots, one to choose a candidate in a single-seat constituency and the other to select a party for proportional representation. Japan has 289 single-seat districts and 11 proportional representation blocks.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is expected to benefit and increase its seats from 98 as the LDP could lose its some seats in the proportional representation section from 72 they held in the previous parliament, according to the report.

LDP coalition partner Komeito party is also facing a tough contest ahead and it is unclear whether it can hold on to the 32 seats it previously had.

Premier Ishiba's decision to hold a new election less than a month after taking office on Oct. 1 has not given enough time to opposition parties to complete preparations.

Japan Innovation Party and Japanese Communist Party are also struggling to increase their numbers in the upcoming elections as previously they held 43 and 10 seats each in the parliament.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid