TOKYO, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Around 1,040 candidates are expected to participate in the general election scheduled on Oct. 31 to compete for 465 seats in Japan's House of Representatives, with campaigning starting on Tuesday, according to a Kyodo News tally.

Leaders of major political parties began a debate on Monday afternoon in Tokyo, and the major topics that voters might focus on would be the COVID-19 response such as policies to recover the battered domestic economy from the pandemic, local media reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who won the presidential election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Sept. 29, is expected to emphasize his "new form of capitalism" to realize a positive cycle of economic growth and redistribution of wealth.

Yukio Edano, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), is expected to attack Kishida's idea of redistributing the wealth as the prime minister has already backpedaled on a plan to review the rate of capital gains tax for a possible increase.

Natsuo Yamaguchi of Komeito, Kazuo Shii of the Japanese Communist Party, Yuichiro Tamaki of the Democratic Party for the People, and Ichiro Matsui of the Japan Innovation Party, would also participate in the debate.

The LDP and its junior coalition ally Komeito currently hold 305 of the 465 seats in the lower house.

According to a Kyodo News survey conducted over the weekend, 29.6 percent of respondents said they would vote for the ruling LDP in the proportional representation section of the election, 9.7 percent would cast ballots for the CDPJ, and 4.7 percent would support Komeito.

However, 39.4 percent said they were still unsure about which party they would choose. Enditem

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