Kan's reshuffled Cabinet receives high support rating+

TOKYO, Sept. 18 Kyodo - The reshuffled Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan drew a high support rating of 64.4 percent in a Kyodo News survey released Saturday, a day after he picked nearly a dozen new ministers who had distanced themselves from ruling party
power broker Ichiro Ozawa.

The rating, up 9.7 percentage points from the previous survey a week earlier,
was the highest since Kan took over from his unpopular predecessor Yukio
Hatoyama in early June. The previous record high for Kan's Cabinet was 61.5
percent in a survey conducted soon after it was inaugurated.
The disapproval rate for Kan's Cabinet stood at 21.2 percent, compared with
31.5 percent in the Sept. 9-10 poll, conducted shortly before Kan defeated
Ozawa in Tuesday's Democratic Party of Japan leadership election.
The latest poll, carried out immediately after the new Cabinet was launched
Friday, covered 1,450 households with eligible voters randomly selected
nationwide and valid responses were received from 1,017 individuals.
Of the respondents, 67.1 percent said they backed Kan's selection of new
ministers and top party leaders from outside of the intraparty group of
lawmakers loyal to Ozawa, who masterminded the DPJ's rise to power in last
year's general election.
In addition, 70.2 percent said they had high expectations for Katsuya Okada,
who switched from foreign minister to the DPJ's No. 2 post of secretary general
in the reshuffle and is considered a key figure by the party's non- and
anti-Ozawa groups.
Nearly half of those polled -- 49.1 percent -- said they wanted the next
election for the powerful House of Representatives to be held in 2013 when the
current terms of lower house members expire.
The figure apparently reflects a desire among voters for Kan to remain as prime
minister in the years ahead so that he can tackle a series of problems facing
Japan, including the yen's appreciation which has hurt the country's
export-driven economy. Kan is Japan's fifth prime minister since 2006.
Following the reshuffle, which included the appointment of 10 new ministers,
Kan said he did not intend to exclude Ozawa's allies from his new Cabinet and
the party leadership. The prime minister revealed that Ozawa had refused an
offer to assume the nominal post of acting DPJ president.
Topping the list of reasons given for backing Kan's new Cabinet was the lack of
a suitable alternative candidate for prime minister at 45.9 percent, while the
main reason for disapproval was Kan's lack of leadership at 23.8 percent.
On the policy front, 54.8 percent of respondents said the new Cabinet should
place priority on implementing measures to shore up the country's economy and
improve the employment situation.
Prioritizing fiscal and administrative reform, including cutting wasteful
spending of taxpayers' money, came second with 39.3 percent while 27.4 percent
said reforming the pension system and other social welfare programs is an
urgent task for Kan's Cabinet.
However, 57.1 percent said the new stimulus package unveiled by the government
on Sept. 10 was insufficient to boost Japan's economy, against 31.9 percent who
thought it would be effective.
As for whether to raise the consumption tax rate from 5 percent, 41.2 percent
voiced opposition but 55.7 percent expressed approval, including those who
responded ''not very willingly.''
With regard to political parties, support for the DPJ stood at 39.7 percent, up
1.5 points from a week earlier, and at 22.4 percent for the main opposition
Liberal Democratic Party, down 1.3 points.
They were followed by 9.0 percent for Your Party, 5.1 percent for the New
Komeito party, 2.4 percent for the Japanese Communist Party, 2.0 percent for
the Social Democratic Party, 0.6 percent each for the Sunrise Party of Japan
and New Renaissance Party, and 0.4 percent for the People's New Party, the
DPJ's junior coalition partner, while 16.2 percent said they did not support a
particular party.
==Kyodo