Japanese are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the scandal-hit government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with its disapproval rate hitting the highest level yet, according to opinion polls published yesterday.
The results come as the ruling coalition struggles with a series of scandals and embarrassments ahead of crucial parliamentary elections later this month.
A humiliating loss in the polls could prompt leaders of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party to seek his replacement.
PHOTO: AFP
The Asahi Shimbun said 51 percent of the 1,065 respondents to its latest telephone survey said they do not support Abe's government, up from 48 percent in the previous survey and the worst showing yet in the daily's series of polls.
The government's support rate edged up to 31 percent in the survey, conducted on Saturday and Sunday, from the 28 percent figure recorded in the previous poll, the paper said.
The showing reflects public dissatisfaction with how the government has handled several recent scandals, including lost pension records affecting millions of cases, and the resignation last week of the defense minister, who caused a storm of criticism by suggesting the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 were inevitable, the paper said.
Replacement Yuriko Koike is now the first woman to take the position of Japanese Defense Minister.
Abe had to extend this year's parliamentary session -- pushing the elections back one week to July 29 -- to push through legislation partially resolving the missing pension records.
Slightly less than one-third of the Asahi's poll respondents said they approve of the government's handling of the problem, up from less than one-quarter in the previous survey, the paper said. Fifty-six percent disapproved, down from 59 percent, it said.
In a separate telephone survey of voters also conducted on the weekend and released late yesterday, Kyodo News agency said the disapproval rate for Abe's government rose to 58.8 percent, up 0.7 of a percentage point from a poll the previous weekend and a record high. Kyodo interviewed 1,256 people.
Nearly 90 percent of the 309 declared candidates for the upper house election have said that reforming the pensions system would top their agenda if elected, Kyodo found in another poll, also released yesterday.
Meanwhile, Japan's main opposition Democratic Party unveiled its manifesto yesterday, saying it will clean up the pension-scandal and provide financial benefits to families with children to help stem Japan's low birth rate. The Democrats will also secure ?15.3 trillion (US$124 billion) to finance new projects by streamlining the administration, not by hiking consumption taxes.
The government took a further blow over the weekend amid media and opposition party allegations that newly appointed Agriculture Minister Norihiko Akagi reported ?90 million in office expenses over the past decade for a political office that was registered at his parents' address and no longer operated.
Akagi -- who took office last month, replacing his predecessor who committed suicide following money and bribery scandals -- has acknowledged using his parents' home to run a political group, but has denied any illegality in his accounting.
Top government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki yesterday reiterated Minister Akagi's explanation that he has reported everything that is required under the laws covering such political funds.
No margin of error was provided for all three polls.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was