2011-02-28 10:30

TOKYO - More than one-third of Japanese voters want a broad coalition between two major political parties, a newspaper poll showed on Monday, as Prime Minister Naoto Kan struggles to pass budget bills in a divided parliament.

Kan wants parliament's lower house, where the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) holds a big majority, to approve a $1 trillion budget for the fiscal year starting in April later on Monday but plans to hold off on submitting related bills.

The 2011/12 budget itself can be enacted by parliament's lower house alone. But related bills to implement the budget require approval of the upper chamber, where the opposition have threatened to use their majority to block legislation.

In the poll by the Nikkei business daily, 37 percent of respondents said they wanted a "grand coalition" of the DPJ and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party.

Kan, whose support ratings have sunk to about 20 percent, has been facing pressure from inside and outside his party either to quit or call a snap election to break the deadlock, which is keeping him from dealing with issues such as huge public debt.

The same Nikkei poll showed 37 percent of voters wanted a snap election, although almost an equal number, at 36 percent, said Kan need not call an election nor resign. Only 17 percent said he should quit.

On Saturday, a DPJ party elder suggested that Kan's resignation was an option to win opposition support for bills to enact a workable budget, adding to pressure on Kan.

The Nikkei poll showed support for Kan's government down 9 percentage points at 22 percent, the lowest since the leader took office last June and in line with the level of support his predecessor had right before quitting after just 8 months in power.