Japan opposition ahead in polls for Tokyo vote

By Chisa Fujioka

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's main opposition party is ahead in voter polls to win a key local election next week, media polls showed on Monday, boosting chances pressure will grow to oust Prime Minister Taro Aso before a tough national contest.

The July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly vote is seen as a gauge for a general election due by October which Aso's ruling coalition is in danger of losing.

A loss by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the national election, which many expect in August, would mark the end of more than 50 years of nearly unbroken rule by the business-friendly party as voters worry about the economy.

A Democratic Party victory would also increase the possibility of a breakthrough in a stalemate that emerged in 2007 when the opposition won control of parliament's upper house, allowing it to stymie policy implementation as Japan struggles with recession.

In a Yomiuri newspaper poll, 29.4 percent of respondents said they would vote for the main opposition Democratic Party in the Tokyo election, while 22 percent said they would opt for the LDP or its junior coalition partner. Other media polls also showed the Democrats with a solid lead.

A victory on Sunday for an opposition-backed candidate in a local gubernatorial election has added to speculation lawmakers within the LDP would seek to replace the unpopular Aso while trying to delay the national vote.

OPPOSITION HEADACHE