Abe Cabinet’s Support Rating Down at 38 Pct: Jiji Poll

December 14, 2018

Tokyo--Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet in December stood at 38.9 pct, down 3.4 percentage points from the previous month, a Jiji Press opinion poll found Friday.

The figure dropped for the first time in six months.

The disapproval rating rose 0.5 point to 38.7 pct.

The results came after the government and ruling camp forced deliberations on revisions to the immigration control law to accept more foreign workers.

Asked about reduced tax rates to be introduced for some products in line with the consumption tax hike in October next year, 53.7 pct of respondents expressed support and 32.9 pct objected.

The poll also found that 33.9 pct supported a possible dissolution of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, followed by a snap election, at the same time as the coming triennial election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, in summer next year, while 30.1 pct objected.

Asked about reasons for supporting the Abe cabinet, with multiple answers allowed, 17.7 pct cited a lack of anybody else suitable for the position, followed by 10.5 pct noted Abe's leadership and 9.1 pct mentioned trust in him.

Meanwhile, as reasons for disapproving the cabinet, 21.0 pct cited distrust in the prime minister, followed by 15.0 pct who said that they expect nothing from him and 13.8 pct who disagree with his policies.

On their favored political parties, 21.3 pct expressed support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, down 5.5 points from the previous month, while the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan saw its approval rating growing 0.3 point to 4.6 pct.

The approval rating for the LDP's coalition ally, Komeito, stood at 3.4 pct, followed by the Japanese Communist Party, with 1.6 pct, the Democratic Party for the People, with 1.0 pct and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), with 0.8 pct.

The proportion of respondents who were unaffiliated stood at 65.1 pct, up 6.8 points.

The survey was conducted through interviews with 2,000 people aged 18 and over nationwide. Of them, 60.7 pct gave valid answers. <strong>Jiji Press</strong>