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Public approval tumbles for Japan's new Cabinet
Source: Agencies |
February 23, 2010, Tuesday
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JAPAN'S prime minister is on thinning ice with voters, who expressed growing discontent in a new poll and rejected the ruling party's candidate in a key local election at the weekend.
Public support for Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet has tumbled to 37 percent amid escalating anger over fundraising scandals, according to the national poll by the major daily Asahi. Voter approval was down 11 percentage points from 48 percent in December.
More than half said they did not want the ruling Democratic Party of Japan to win a majority of upper house seats in elections this summer.
The latest figures represent a massive reversal of fortune for the Democrats, who came to power on high hopes for change and strong public support. In an election last summer, they managed to oust the Liberal Democrats from five decades of nearly unbroken rule.
Since then, however, voters have turned on Hatoyama.
On Sunday voters in the far western prefecture of Nagasaki elected Hodo Nakamura as their new governor, spurning the Democrats' choice, Tsuyoshi Hashimoto.
Hatoyama's agenda is being undermined by financial scandals that threaten his party's prospects in July's upper house elections and its ability to pass a record US$1 trillion budget for the next fiscal year. Hatoyama also faces doubts about his leadership in diplomatic and economic issues.
More than 80 percent of poll respondents said Ichiro Ozawa, the Democrats' deputy leader, should answer lawmakers' questions about a political fundraising scandal. Three former and current aides were indicted earlier this month.
Public support for Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet has tumbled to 37 percent amid escalating anger over fundraising scandals, according to the national poll by the major daily Asahi. Voter approval was down 11 percentage points from 48 percent in December.
More than half said they did not want the ruling Democratic Party of Japan to win a majority of upper house seats in elections this summer.
The latest figures represent a massive reversal of fortune for the Democrats, who came to power on high hopes for change and strong public support. In an election last summer, they managed to oust the Liberal Democrats from five decades of nearly unbroken rule.
Since then, however, voters have turned on Hatoyama.
On Sunday voters in the far western prefecture of Nagasaki elected Hodo Nakamura as their new governor, spurning the Democrats' choice, Tsuyoshi Hashimoto.
Hatoyama's agenda is being undermined by financial scandals that threaten his party's prospects in July's upper house elections and its ability to pass a record US$1 trillion budget for the next fiscal year. Hatoyama also faces doubts about his leadership in diplomatic and economic issues.
More than 80 percent of poll respondents said Ichiro Ozawa, the Democrats' deputy leader, should answer lawmakers' questions about a political fundraising scandal. Three former and current aides were indicted earlier this month.
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