Tokyo, Sep 16 (IANS): Former Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko has emerged as the top choice to lead the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) ahead of the crucial party election scheduled for September 23, two separate polls conducted by Kyodo News and Yomiuri Shimbun have indicated.

Four candidates are in the CDPJ leadership race - including Noda Yoshihiko, former CDPJ President Yukio Edano, lawmaker Harumi Yoshida and current leader Kenta Izumi.

A Kyodo News poll of party supporters and lawmakers showed Monday that Noda - who led Japan from 2011 to 2012 when the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, predecessor of the CDPJ, was in power - emerged as a favourite choice with a commanding 58.8 per cent backing from party supporters.

"Noda aims to shift the center-left party slightly rightward to attract moderate conservatives unhappy with the LDP, which has eroded public trust in politics due to a high-profile slush fund scandal," Kyodo News reported.

"The winner is set to guide the left-leaning CDPJ in a general election if the victor of the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party's September 27 leadership race dissolves the House of Representatives shortly after becoming Prime Minister," it mentioned further.

While CDPJ founder Yukio Edano took the second place among party supporters with 20.9 per cent support, Harumi Yoshida - the only woman in the race - came in third at 7.8 per cent.

"Incumbent leader Kenta Izumi, who struggled to gain the recommendation of 20 party lawmakers to run in the presidential race, was last at 7.6 per cent," the report mentioned.

Of the 136 lawmakers interviewed, Noda had the backing of about 40 while 30 voiced support for Edano.

"Yoshida and Izumi each have the backing of about 20 lawmakers. But with around 20 percent of lawmakers yet to decide who they would back in the vote, it remains unclear who will ultimately be chosen as leader," Japan's leading news agency revealed.

Another opinion poll, conducted by leading Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, saw 32 per cent of respondents selecting 67-year-old Noda as the most suitable candidate to be the next leader of the CDPJ.

"Yukio Edano, 60, former CDPJ president, was ranked second with support from 14 per cent of the respondents; Harumi Yoshida, 52, a House of Representatives lawmaker, was ranked third with 9 per cent; and current President Kenta Izumi, 50, was ranked fourth with 8 per cent," Yomiuri Shimbun poll revealed.

It stated that among CDPJ supporters alone, Noda attracted nearly 50 per cent support, Edano nearly 30 per cent, Izumi less than 20 per cent and Yoshida less than 10 per cent.

"By age group, Noda received the highest rate of support from those aged 60 or older, at 40 per cent. His level of support decreased with age, with 32 per cent among those aged 40 to 59 and 20 per cent among those aged 18 to 39," it added.