Abe Cabinet support rate dives to 39%: Jiji poll

March 16, 2018

Tokyo- Public support for the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in March plunged 9.4 percentage points from the previous month to 39.3 percent, falling short of the disapproval rate for the first time in five months, a Jiji Press opinion poll showed Friday.

The support rate also fell below 40 percent for the first time in five months.

The disapproval rate grew 8.5 points to 40.4 percent, according to the poll conducted for four days through Monday.

The survey results can be taken to indicate public disillusionment over the manipulation of Finance Ministry documents related to the controversial huge discount sale of a state-owned land plot to private school operator Moritomo Gakuen, once linked to Abe's wife, Akie.

The Abe administration is expected to continue facing a headwind as opposition parties are stepping up their offensive and urging Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso to step down over the scandal, analysts said.

The document manipulation scandal looks certain to affect Abe's push for constitutional amendments and his strategy to win a third straight term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the LDP leadership election in autumn, they said. Jiji Press