Posted on 06/03/2007 7:14:40 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Abe Cabinet's approval rate sinks to lowest 30%: Asahi poll
(Kyodo) _ The approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet dropped to 30 percent this weekend, down from 36 percent a week ago to mark the lowest since he took office last September, a major Japanese daily said in opinion poll results published Monday.
The Asahi Shimbun said the telephone-based poll on Saturday and Sunday also showed that the Cabinet's disapproval rating came to 49 percent, up from 42 percent in the previous survey on May 26 and 27.
The daily said the lower approval rating stemmed from pension-related problems and political funds scandals involving Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka, who committed suicide May 28.
In the poll, 78 percent said there was too little parliamentary deliberation on pension-related problems, including record-keeping blunders that have resulted in 50 million unidentified pension accounts in leading many pensioners to get less benefits than they have paid for in premiums.
The ruling coalition of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party rammed two pension-related bills through the House of Representatives last week. The bills include measures to partly help those pensioners, but the opposition camp criticized them as insufficient.
As for political funds scandals involving the late farm minister, 69 percent said Abe has inappropriately dealt with them, criticizing Abe for defending Matsuoka amid the opposition camp's call for his resignation.
The poll also indicated that 61 percent believe Matsuoka's suicide made the Cabinet look bad.
The daily conducted the poll as its fourth consecutive one ahead of July's House of Councillors election. It covered 1,045 randomly selected eligible voters across Japan.
Ping!
Not good, he is a great ally.
THIS SUCKS hey Tiger I hear Chia Pet made public appearance today according to BBC wire
Ping!
When I saw that headline, I thought, “Now, which office in the Bush administration does Abe Cabinet hold?”
With each Cabinet Member’s suicide, I predict they will lose 5% per suicide.
Doesn’t matter a tinker’s cuss . This is all part of the plan . They’re always shuffling in new LDP PMs . He’s doing what he is told and he ain’t worried about no legacy if you get my drift .
Oh, I thought it was just the dinosaur media finally reporting some new about the Lincoln administration.
Yes. I think they are on the way out. I have never seen such poor leadership in Japan, except perhaps on PM Mori.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.