The Liberal Democratic Party is likely to secure nearly 1,400 of the 2,634 seats up for grabs in 44 prefectural assemblies in local elections on Sunday, according to a Kyodo News survey released Wednesday.

It would be the first time since 1991 that the LDP has won more than half the seats in the assemblies. The previous prefectural assembly elections took place in 1995 and 1999.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan is likely to take more than 200 seats, but this falls short of the 243 seats it currently holds in all of Japan's 47 prefectures except for Tokyo, Ibaraki and Okinawa.

New Komeito, one of the LDP's two coalition allies, is expected to see almost all of its 178 candidates win. It currently holds 166 seats.

The opposition Liberal Party is expected to take around 20 seats, about the same number it currently holds.

The Japanese Communist Party could fall short of securing its present 154 seats, while the Social Democratic Party is likely to see a drop of around 20 percent from its current 98 seats.

Independents are likely to win about 600 seats, some 20 percent of the total.

A total of 3,854 people filed their candidacies as official campaigns for the elections began last Friday.

Gubernatorial elections in Tokyo and nine other prefectures, as well as the Sapporo mayoral election, will also be held Sunday.