Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet rose by 9 percentage points to 36 percent despite the recent arrest of his former justice minister on suspicion of vote-buying, a poll by the Mainichi Shimbun showed yesterday.
The approval rating had fallen to 27 percent in the paper’s previous survey conducted soon after a senior Tokyo prosecutor who was seen close to the prime minister resigned late last month for gambling during Japan’s COVID-19 state of emergency.
The disapproval rating for the Cabinet fell 9 percentage points to 56 percent.
Photo: AFP
A drop in voter support below 30 percent is often seen as a danger sign.
The Mainichi report on its latest survey does not give specific reasons for the rebound in support, but 55 percent of those polled welcomed the government’s decision on Thursday to lift curbs on domestic travels.
That compares with 32 percent of those surveyed who said the restrictions should have remained in place.
Prosecutors on Thursday arrested former minister of justice Katsuyuki Kawai, a one-time foreign policy adviser close to Abe, and Kawai’s lawmaker wife, Anri, on suspicion of vote-buying in an upper-house election last year.
Although support for Abe’s government rebounded, 59 percent of those surveyed believe Abe has heavy responsibility for the matter.
About 59 percent also said that Abe’s ties to Kawai and his wife were a “serious” issue.
About one-third of respondents said Abe’s ties were not a major concern.
Abe has apologized to the public over the scandal, saying he felt his responsibility strongly for his appointment of Kawai to the post.
The Mainichi survey also showed that 59 percent of those polled do not believe the Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for July and August this year but postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, can be held next year.
Only 21 percent believe the event can be held next year.
Japan has not suffered the explosive surge of COVID-19 infections seen in some other countries, with 17,760 confirmed cases and 955 deaths, the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard showed yesterday.
No margin of error was specified for the survey.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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