Takaichi Cabinet’s approval rate drops to new low of 42.4%, Jiji poll shows

The public approval rate for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet fell 1.7 percentage points month on month in October to 42.4%, the lowest level since she took office a year ago, a Jiji Press survey showed Thursday.

The rate is down for a fifth straight month.

According to the survey, conducted for four days through Monday, the proportion of respondents who did not support the Cabinet stood at 29.7%, up 0.4 of a percentage point.

The results apparently reflected critical views of the public about Takaichi’s decision to keep agriculture minister Kazuo Yana in the Cabinet for more than two weeks despite mounting allegations against him. Yana ended up resigning as agriculture minister Wednesday in a move widely seen as an effective dismissal.

Yana had been at the center of criticism since Sept. 30, when reports about his problematic behavior began to emerge, including remarks about road-related budget cuts for some municipalities and free shuttle bus transportation he provided to supporters during his Lower House election campaigning, a possible election law violation.

Asked whether Takaichi’s initial decision to retain Yana was appropriate, 49.6% saw it as problematic. Combined with the 28.4% who said it was somewhat problematic, nearly 80% viewed the decision negatively. Only 13.2% expressed support.

Meanwhile, 28.0% of respondents approved of last month’s Cabinet reshuffle and executive appointments within Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party. In contrast, 50.6% gave the opposite answer.

Regarding the appointments of Yana and education minister Yoshihiro Seki, both of whom had been linked to a slush funds scandal within the LDP, 65.9% said the appointments were problematic. This percentage includes those who responded that the appointments were somewhat problematic.

On legislation to cut the consumption tax on food, a total of 55.3% of respondents supported the measure while 37.3% opposed it.

The legislation is designed to lower the 8% consumption tax on food to 1% for two years from next April and introduce a cash benefit program linked to income levels in order to cushion the impact of soaring prices.

The ruling coalition aims to get the legislation through the parliament during its ongoing session,  which ends on Dec. 12.

The opposition Democratic Party for the People (DPP) and Komeito have stepped up their criticism of the legislation, citing the lack of a clear funding source and the absence of details about the benefit system. Among supporters of the two parties, however, support outweighed opposition.

By political parties, the ruling LDP remained the most popular party at 22.1%, down 1.1 points from the previous month.

Komeito ranked second at 3.4%, up 0.2 of a point and remaining the highest among opposition parties. It was followed by Sanseito at 2.7%, the DPP at 1.9% and Team Mirai at 1.7%.

Support for the Japan Innovation Party, the LDP’s partner in the ruling bloc, stood at 1.6%, followed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at 1.5%, the Japanese Communist Party at 1.4%, and the Conservative Party of Japan at 0.4%. The Social Democratic Party followed at 0.3%, and Inochi no To at 0.2%.

Respondents who did not support specific political parties accounted for 59.7%.

The interview survey covered 2,000 people age 18 or older across the country. Valid responses were given by 58.4% of respondents.