Hatoyama Cabinet approval rating hits lowest level since inauguration+

TOKYO, March 7 Kyodo -
The approval rate for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet has fallen to
36.3 percent, the lowest level since the Cabinet was inaugurated last
September, the latest nationwide telephone poll conducted by Kyodo News showed
Sunday.
In the survey conducted Saturday and Sunday, 58.6 percent of respondents said
they do not believe it would be desirable for the ruling Democratic Party of
Japan to control the House of Councillors on its own in addition to holding a
majority in the House of Representatives.
Asked about a political funds scandal linked to DPJ Secretary General Ichiro
Ozawa, 74.8 percent said they think he should resign from the party's No. 2
post over the issue, up 2.1 percentage points from the previous poll conducted
in February.
The Cabinet approval rating was down 5.1 points from last month's poll, dipping
below 40 percent for the first time in a Kyodo survey since the Cabinet's
launch. In the first poll conducted after its inauguration, Hatoyama's Cabinet
had a support rate of 72.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the disapproval rate was up 3.8 points to 48.9 percent, with the
prime minister's lack of leadership ability cited most as the reason for
dissatisfaction.
Asked which party they would vote for in the proportional representation
section of the upper house election this summer, the DPJ and the Liberal
Democratic Party were neck and neck, with 26.9 percent choosing the ruling
party, down 6.7 points, and 26.3 percent opting for the LDP, up 2.9 points.
Only 28.3 percent of respondents said it would be desirable for the DPJ to
control the upper house in addition to the lower chamber. The party, which
toppled the long-ruling LDP and secured a majority in the lower house in last
August's general election, is short of a majority in the upper house and relies
on the support of its two junior coalition partners in the chamber.
A total of 63.9 percent of respondents said they would take into consideration
funds scandals linked to Hatoyama and Ozawa when they cast their votes in the
upcoming triennial upper house election, in which half of the chamber's 242
seats will be up for grabs.
Hatoyama has been criticized for failing to pay taxes on a large amount of
funds received from his mother. He eventually paid the taxes after the case
came to light last year.
The latest survey results reflect public resentment over political funds
scandals, as a slight increase was seen in the proportion of respondents
calling for Ozawa to step down as party secretary general while three-quarters
of respondents sought the resignation of another DPJ lawmaker over a separate
funds scandal.
Of the respondents, 86.4 percent also said that Ozawa should explain the matter
in the Diet.
While Ozawa was not indicted in the case, two of his former aides and a current
secretary have been arrested over the alleged falsification of annual reports
at Ozawa's fund management body in connection with a land purchase in Tokyo in
2004.
With regard to the other case involving DPJ lawmaker Chiyomi Kobayashi, 75.4
percent of respondents said she should resign as a lower house member to take
responsibility for the recent arrest of four people in connection with illegal
donations to her election campaign.
The gap between the DPJ and the LDP also narrowed in terms of public support
for political parties, with the DPJ securing 29.0 percent, down 4.6 points from
February, and the LDP's support rate increasing 1.8 points to 24.6 percent.
When asked who was best suited to be prime minister, 23.7 percent of
respondents, the highest number, said former Health, Labor and Welfare Minister
Yoichi Masuzoe of the LDP.
Masuzoe was followed by Hatoyama at 8.3 percent, Deputy Prime Minister and
Finance Minister Naoto Kan at 7.4 percent and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada at
7.2 percent.
More than half the respondents -- 54.0 percent -- said they believe it is
inevitable that the government will raise the 5 percent consumption tax, while
41.5 percent said they did not think an increase was unavoidable.
Other than the two main parties, the support rate stood at 3.9 percent for Your
Party, 3.4 percent for the New Komeito party, 3.1 percent for the Japanese
Communist Party, 0.9 percent for the Social Democratic Party and 0.3 percent
for the People's New Party.
The SDP and the PNP are the DPJ's junior partners in the coalition government.
In the weekend poll, a total of 1,475 households with eligible voters were
called and valid responses were received from 1,023 individuals.
==Kyodo