Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Monday he was not thinking of calling an election now, indicating that an expected early poll aimed at breaking a political stalemate may be pushed back.
The 68-year-old Aso, who took office last month after his predecessor resigned suddenly, had been expected to call an election for the lower house as early as November in the hope of breaking a parliamentary deadlock.
"At this stage, I am not thinking about dissolving parliament," Aso said, adding that the priority now was to deliberate and pass the supplementary budget.
"The greatest interest of the people right now is uncertainty over the future of the economy," Aso told parliament.
There is growing concern over the impact on Japan's faltering economy of the US financial crisis, while support for the government may have been hurt following the transport minister's resignation last week due to a series of contentious remarks.
A media poll on Monday showed that support for Aso's cabinet and the ruling party had fallen from a previous survey in September.
Approval for Aso's cabinet stood at 41 per cent, down 7 points from September, the Asahi newspaper poll taken on Saturday and Sunday showed.
{{/usCountry}}Approval for Aso's cabinet stood at 41 per cent, down 7 points from September, the Asahi newspaper poll taken on Saturday and Sunday showed.
{{/usCountry}}Asked whom they would vote for if an election took place now, 34 per cent of respondents picked the main opposition Democratic Party, up 2 points from last month, while 33 per cent chose the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, down 3 points from September.
No election for the lower house need be held until September 2009.