Support for Kan Cabinet plunges to 43%: Kyodo poll+

TOKYO, July 8 Kyodo -
Public support for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan plunged by 15.4
percentage points from the previous survey in the latter half of June to 43.4
percent in the latest Kyodo News nationwide telephone poll, according to
results released Thursday.
The disapproval rate for the Cabinet of Kan, who assumed power June 8,
increased to 43.2 percent, up 13.2 points, in the poll conducted on Wednesday
and Thursday, ahead of Sunday's House of Councillors election.
Respondents were split over whether they support Kan's remark that he would
consider 10 percent as a reference for raising the consumption tax rate from
the current 5 percent, with 45.3 percent saying they value the comment and 46.8
percent saying they do not.
The support rate for Kan's Cabinet has been on a decline since hitting 64.8
percent in the June 12-13 poll, the first of three surveys conducted by Kyodo
News in the lead up to the upper house election.
Asked which party they will vote for in the proportional representation section
of the upper house election, 23.7 percent named the ruling Democratic Party of
Japan, down from 26.3 percent in the previous poll conducted on June 19 and 20.
Although the rate was higher than that for the main opposition Liberal
Democratic Party, at 17.3 percent -- up from 15.8 percent -- the DPJ's lead
over the LDP shrank by 4.1 points from the previous poll to 6.4 points.
In constituencies, the DPJ's lead over the LDP also narrowed by 8.4 points to
1.7 points, as 22.6 percent said they will support DPJ candidates in electoral
districts and 20.9 percent said they will support LDP candidates.
The two major parties were followed in terms of support in the proportional
representation block by Your Party at 7.7 percent, the New Komeito party at 6.4
percent, the Japanese Communist Party at 2.9 percent and the Social Democratic
Party at 2.0 percent.
Newly formed small parties continued to struggle to garner support, with the
Sunrise Party of Japan gaining 1.0 percent and the New Renaissance Party
getting 0.8 percent.
As for the total number of upper house seats including those that will not be
contested in the upcoming election, 46.7 percent said the ruling parties should
lose their majority in the chamber, surpassing the proportion of those who said
they should retain their majority for the first time in the three surveys.
A total of 41.7 percent said the ruling coalition should retain a majority in
the upper house.
In terms of party affiliation, among the 57.4 percent of the respondents who
said they support no particular party, 25.8 percent said they would support the
DPJ if they had to choose one, while 15.5 percent said they would support the
LDP.
The poll showed that the popularity of Your Party has been rising among
nonaffiliated voters, with 11.9 percent of them saying they would support the
party, up from 7.2 percent in the previous survey.
The latest survey showed a combined 80.2 percent were either ''greatly'' or
''to some extent'' interested in the forthcoming election.
==Kyodo
2010-07-09 00:12:13