Takaichi Cabinet’s Approval Rate Almost Flat at 48.4 Pct: Jiji Poll

Tokyo, Aug. 13 (Jiji Press)–Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s cabinet edged down 0.6 percentage point from the previous month to 48.4 pct in August, a Jiji Press survey showed Thursday. According to the survey, conducted for four days through Sunday, the proportion of respondents who did not support the cabinet rose 1.7 points to 26.9 pct. Takaichi spent less time attending intensive deliberations at budget committees of both chambers of the Diet during a special parliamentary session that ended last month than her predecessors typically did during ordinary Diet sessions. A total of 37.8 pct of respondents in the latest survey found the current prime minister’s shorter participation inappropriate, while 31.4 pct said it was appropriate. The results may have reflected perceptions that explanations Takaichi gave to the public were insufficient, despite her repeatedly saying that she had answered questions honestly during such deliberations every time she was asked to attend. On the government’s handling of a massive earthquake that struck the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto on July 28, 43.0 pct said they viewed the government’s response positively, far exceeding the 20.6 pct who did not. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which Takaichi heads, had the highest public support rate among the country’s political parties, at 24.6 pct, up 3.8 points, followed by its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, at 2.7 pct, up 0.4 point. Among opposition parties, Komeito topped the list, at 2.4 pct, down 0.6 point. Support for the Centrist Reform Alliance rose marginally by 0.4 point to 2.1 pct, while that for the Democratic Party for the People inched up 0.2 point to 1.8 pct. Both Sanseito and the Japanese Communist Party were backed by 1.5 pct. The support rate came to 1.4 pct for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and 1.0 pct for Team Mirai. Respondents who did not support any specific party accounted for 56.2 pct. The interview-based survey covered 1,974 individuals aged 18 or older across the country, excluding the quake-hit Kumamoto Prefecture. Valid responses were given by 59.1 pct. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]