TOKYO: Japan’s new prime minister hit out at “biased” media reports related to a party scandal, as another poll suggested his ruling coalition could miss out on a majority in elections on Sunday (Oct 27).

This would be the worst result for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan for almost all of the past seven decades, since last losing power in 2009.

Shigeru Ishiba, 67, became party leader for the first time – on the fifth attempt – last month and took office as prime minister on October 1, calling snap elections within days to bolster his position.

Friday’s new poll by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily suggested the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito may struggle to get the necessary 233 seats in the lower house needed for a majority.

Ishiba has set this threshold as his goal. Missing it would undermine his position in the LDP and mean finding other coalition partners or leading a minority government.

In the voting districts, only 87 of the LDP’s 266 candidates are ahead of their rivals, while 133 are in neck-and-neck battles, bestseller Yomiuri said.

The LDP was also set to lose dozens of seats in the proportional representation portion of the election, the paper added.

To Ishiba’s misery, the continued fallout of a slush fund scandal within the LDP which angered voters and helped torpedo his predecessor Fumio Kishida.

Ishiba vowed not to actively support LDP politicians caught up in the election scandal, although they are still running.

But according to media reports, the party still gave 20 million yen ($132,000) each to district offices headed by those figures, infuriating the opposition.

Ishiba on Thursday insisted the money was for those offices, not to support those candidates themselves.

“It’s really frustrating that such reports come out at a time like this,” Ishiba said at a campaign speech. “These candidates will not use the money.”

“We cannot be defeated by those with partisan views,” he said.