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Abe Cabinet approval rating slumps to 39% in new poll
The approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet continues to fall, dropping to 39 percent in a recent nationwide opinion poll conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun from Friday to Sunday.
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Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (center) arrives at his official residence to attend a cabinet meeting in Tokyo on August 3, 2017. (AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi)
T
he approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet continues to fall, dropping to 39 per cent in a recent nationwide opinion poll conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun from Friday to Sunday.
The latest figure represents a decrease of three percentage points from the 42 percent recorded in the previous survey conducted from March 31 to April 1.
It is the third consecutive decline since the survey conducted on March 9-11, and was down 15 percentage points in total. The latest approval rating is the second-lowest since the launch of the second Abe Cabinet.
The Cabinet’s disapproval rating rose to 53 percent, surpassing the previous high of 52 percent recorded in July last year. Regarding their reasons for disapproval, a record-high 62 percent of respondents said they do not trust the prime minister, surpassing the 54 percent in the previous poll.
In a recent development in the cronyism scandal involving school operator Kake Educational Institution, documents emerged detailing a meeting between Tadao Yanase, a former secretary to Abe, and Ehime prefectural government officials and others.
According to the documents, Yanase said the establishment of a veterinary department at a university operated by Kake was “a matter concerning the prime minister.”
In response, Yanase said he had not met the officials as far as he remembers, and Abe has said he trusts Yanase. Eighty-two percent of respondents said they are not convinced by the explanations.
Regarding recent sexual harassment allegations against Administrative Vice Finance Minister Junichi Fukuda, which led him to announce his intention to resign, 76 percent do not believe the Finance Ministry handled the matter appropriately.
Asked whether Finance Minister Taro Aso should resign over the Fukuda scandal and the controversial sale of state-owned land to private school operator Moritomo Gakuen, 50 percent said he should step down, while 44 percent said such a move was unnecessary.
Seventy-four percent believe that Abe bears great responsibility for the series of incidents involving Moritomo Gakuen, Kake and the management of administrative documents. Asked whether the Diet should prioritize discussing these issues, 46 percent supported the idea while the same number were opposed.
By political party, 37 percent support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, up from 36 percent in the previous poll, followed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan with 10 percent, up from 9 percent. Another 40 percent say they have no party affiliation, down from 41 percent in the previous survey.
The survey was conducted by polling 873 households with landline phones — all eligible voters aged 18 or older — and 1,112 mobile phone users sampled with a random digit dialing method. Of them, 1,066 people — 540 on landlines and 526 on mobile phones — gave valid answers.
This article appeared on The Japan News newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
