(KPL/KYODO NEWS) Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi is viewed by 27.7 percent of Liberal Democratic Party supporters as most suitable to be Japan's next prime minister, a Kyodo News poll showed Monday, two weeks ahead of the party's presidential election.

Takaichi is running in the Sept. 27 LDP race to choose the successor of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced in August that he will not seek reelection as leader of the ruling party in the wake of a slush funds scandal that has shaken support for the party since late last year.

Among the other eight candidates, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba received 23.7 percent support and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi 19.1 percent, according to the two-day telephone survey conducted from Sunday, indicating no contender is likely to win an outright majority in the first round of the election.

Out of LDP supporters eligible to vote in the presidential election, Koizumi came out on top with 27.9 percent, followed by Takaichi with 21.4 percent and Ishiba with 19.7 percent, the poll said, around 10 days before the new leader is selected.

Whoever wins the race will become prime minister as the LDP-led coalition and its junior coalition partner control both chambers of parliament, but the crowded field, with a record nine candidates, has made it difficult to predict who will secure victory.

In the first round, each of the LDP's 367 Diet members will cast a vote, and another 367 votes will be determined based on the preferences of rank-and-file members who hold Japanese nationality and have paid membership fees the past two years.

The deadline for voting by rank-and-file members is scheduled for Sept. 26. If a runoff takes place, the 367 parliament members and each of the LDP's 47 prefectural chapters will cast votes.

The campaign kicked off last Thursday and the candidates have all pledged to rebrand the LDP.

The latest poll shows that 66.1 percent of LDP supporters believe the ruling party's lawmakers who received slush funds from their intraparty factions need to explain in parliament how and why they were able to accumulate such money.

Since late last year, the LDP has faced intense scrutiny after some of its factions, including the largest one formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, failed to report portions of their income from fundraising parties and created slush funds.

In June, Japan's parliament enacted a revised law proposed by the LDP to reform political funding regulations, but the opposition camp said it was ineffective and contained many loopholes in addressing the country's long-standing issue of politics and money.

On the policy front, meanwhile, the nine candidates are divided over whether to allow married couples in Japan to use different surnames, a point of contention for the LDP for the past 30 years as it places importance on what it sees as traditional family values.

In the Kyodo News poll, 41.4 percent of LDP supporters were in favor of the introduction of the system of optional separate surnames for married couples, while 43.2 percent were opposed.

Asked what issues the next premier is expected to prioritize, 36.2 percent of LDP supporters cited measures to boost the economy and curb price hikes, while 24.5 percent mentioned a focus on foreign and security policies.

The survey called randomly selected individuals aged 18 and older, who are eligible voters across the nation. The responses of 1,048 people who said their political party of choice is the LDP were tallied.

KPL