In a poll by Mainichi, almost 70 percent of respondents said they were happy that the Democratic Party of Japan’s (DPJ) scored a victory over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in last week’s House of Councillors election.

When asked why they believed the DPJ won, about 80 percent of the respondents said the largest opposition party was successful because it garnered the votes of people who have become critical of the LDP.

The survey showed that pollees believe voters were less interested in wanting to help the DPJ take power from the LDP than seeing the ruling party defeated.