47% want Japan PM Suga to serve out term, 40% want him to leave soon: poll

TOKYO -- A total of 47% of people polled in a nationwide survey say they want Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to serve out his current term in office, which ends at the end of September, while 40% said they want him to leave soon.

The public opinion poll was conducted on May 22 by the Mainichi Shimbun and the Social Survey Research Center. Suga's term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is due to expire at the end of September.

Asked how long they wished to have Prime Minister Suga remain in office, 13% of those polled said they wanted him "to stay in office as long as possible," while 47% said they wanted him "to stay in office until the end of his current term as LDP president." Another 40% of those polled said they wanted him to leave his post soon.

(Japanese original by Ko Sato, Poll Office)