Hatoyama Cabinet disapproval rate surpasses approval rate for 1st time

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TOKYO, Jan. 18 Kyodo -
The disapproval rate for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama stood at
44.1 percent, surpassing the approval rate of 41.5 percent for the first time,
the latest nationwide telephone poll by Kyodo News showed Monday.
The poll also showed that a combined 73.3 percent of the respondents believed
that Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of Hatoyama's ruling Democratic Party of
Japan, should step down either from the party's No. 2 post or as a lawmaker
over a scandal involving a land purchase by his fund management body.
Even among DPJ supporters, 39.4 percent thought Ozawa should resign as party
secretary general while 16.7 percent said he should give up his parliamentary
seat.
The latest poll, which received responses from 1,026 eligible voters, was
conducted Sunday and earlier Monday in the wake of the weekend arrests of three
aides to Ozawa, including an incumbent lower house member, in connection with
the land purchase.
In the previous poll a week earlier, the Cabinet's approval rate stood at 50.8
percent against a disapproval rate of 33.2 percent.
Most of the respondents said funds scandals involving Ozawa and Hatoyama will
have an impact on the House of Councillors election this summer, with 87.2
percent of DPJ supporters, 93.5 percent of Liberal Democratic Party supporters
and 89.1 percent of unaffiliated voters saying so.
According to the survey, 28.4 percent of the respondents said they will vote
for the DPJ in the upcoming election, while 24.7 percent said they will vote
for the LDP, showing only a small difference in support for the two major
parties.
Among the unaffiliated voters surveyed, 12.8 percent favored the DPJ, while
11.7 percent said they will vote for the LDP.
The DPJ sees the summer election as crucial to ensuring the smooth passage of
bills in the upper house.
On the Kyodo survey results, Hatoyama told reporters Monday evening, ''While
the results are very disappointing, I'm taking it as a prod from the public.
I'm determined to work harder.''
Despite its overwhelming majority in the more powerful House of
Representatives, the DPJ only controls a majority in the upper house with the
help of its junior coalition partners.
As many as 86.0 percent of respondents said they were not convinced by the
account of the scandal that Ozawa has given so far, against a mere 6.3 percent
who said they were convinced.
Hatoyama has seen his Cabinet's approval ratings tumble in recent months, due
partly to his perceived lack of leadership, from highs of over 70 percent,
which he enjoyed shortly after he assumed office in September.
==Kyodo
2010-01-18 22:49:16