A voter casts his ballot in the lower house elections as representatives of a local election administration commission observes at a polling station on Oct. 31, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Around 33 percent of the electorate viewed economic policies as most important in last weekend's general election, a Kyodo News survey showed Tuesday.

       The two-day nationwide telephone survey conducted following Sunday's House of Representatives election also found that 42.5 percent of respondents thought the opposition parties should have won more seats.

       The Liberal Democratic Party, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and its smaller partner Komeito retained a comfortable majority of 261 seats in the 465-seat lower chamber of parliament.

       Among the opposition, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan won 96 seats, the Japan Innovation Party secured with 41 and the Japanese Communist Party took 10.

       In the survey, 39.9 percent of the respondents said the outcome was appropriate, while 14.0 percent said the ruling coalition should have won more seats.

       The CDPJ and JCP lost seats despite coordinating candidates in more than 200 single-member districts to avoid splitting the anti-LDP vote.

       In the survey, 61.5 percent said the opposition parties should change their strategy, while 32.2 percent said they should continue to pursue it.

       The public support rate for the Kishida Cabinet stood at 58.1 percent, up from 55.7 percent at its launch in early October.

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