A total of 15 of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's 47 prefectural chapters want Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to step down before the Upper House elections scheduled for July, according to a survey conducted by Kyodo News.

The 15 local chapters, which include Tokyo, Saitama, Kyoto, Iwate and Kumamoto, expressed strong concerns that the party will lose the elections if Mori remains prime minister, according to the survey released Saturday.

Citing recent scandals involving members of the LDP, the Foreign Ministry and Mori himself, the regional chapters said the party will not be able to maintain its current strength after the poll as support rates for the Mori administration have been plummeting alarmingly.

Some local chapters criticized Mori by saying that he is not humble enough to admit that he has made mistakes, such as the recent handling of the incident in which a Japanese training fishing vessel sank after being hit by a U.S. navy submarine.

Only three prefectural chapters -- Osaka, Hyogo and Hiroshima -- said they hope Mori remains prime minister.

The poll was conducted between Feb. 6 and Saturday. Of the 47, three local chapters --Aomori, Fukushima and Kanagawa -- did not respond.