Japan opposition keeps lead ahead of poll: survey

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's opposition Democratic Party widened its lead in opinion polls published on Monday, a day before unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso is expected to dissolve parliament's lower house for an August 30 election.

A victory by the decade-old Democratic Party would end more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the business-friendly LDP and improve chances of resolving a policy deadlock caused by a divided parliament.

An Asahi newspaper survey showed that 42 percent of respondents planned to vote for the Democrats, up five points from the last survey in early July, while 19 percent will vote for Aso's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), down three points.

The latest bad news for the LDP follows weeks of chaos for the party. Some party rebels sought to oust Aso last week after he announced his plan for an August 30 general election, but the premier now looks set to keep his job after party heavyweights stepped in.

In the Asahi poll, 50 percent of the respondents said their impression of the LDP had worsened due to its internal strife.

Support for Aso fell to 17 percent in both Asahi and Mainichi newspaper polls, down three points from the Asahi's last survey in July and a two-point fall from Mainichi's last survey in June.

In the Mainichi survey, 28 percent of the respondents opted for Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama as premier, while 11 percent preferred Aso.

But 57 percent said neither was suited to lead the country.

Asahi showed that 28 percent were either undecided or did not answer when asked how they planned to vote. Forecasts of a massive Democratic win could scare away some conservative voters, reducing their potential margin of victory, some analysts say.

Aso is set on Tuesday to seek agreement from cabinet members for his plan to dissolve the lower house, then attend a closed meeting of LDP lawmakers where he is expected to apologize for recent losses in local elections and rally his fractured party.

After the lower house is dissolved in the afternoon, Aso is scheduled to hold an evening news conference to appeal to the public to give his long-ruling party another chance.

(Editing by Alex Richardson)