Support rate for Hatoyama Cabinet up marginally at 63.7%: Kyodo poll+

TOKYO, Nov. 29 Kyodo -
The support rate for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet stood at 63.7
percent in a Kyodo News survey conducted on the weekend, up marginally from
61.8 percent in the previous survey about a month ago.
In the nationwide telephone survey conducted Saturday and Sunday, 74.9 percent
of the respondents said they are dissatisfied with Hatoyama's explanations
about a political donations scandal he is embroiled in, up 6.9 percentage
points from the previous survey.
A total of 77.3 percent said they value the process under the current
government of scrutinizing wasteful spending through the Government
Revitalization Unit, which on Friday completed its initial examination of
fiscal 2010 budget requests from ministries and agencies.
The disapproval rating for Hatoyama's Cabinet went up 2.2 points to 25.1 percent.
Critics say the survey results reflect mixed evaluations of the Hatoyama
Cabinet by voters, many of whom are apparently impressed by its initiative of
reducing the power of bureaucrats in its waste-cutting drive but at the same
time are weary of the premier's funding scandal.
At the center of the scandal is Hatoyama's former secretary, who was in charge
of accounting for his political funds before being dismissed in June after the
scandal came to light.
Prosecutors suspect that more than 300 million yen may have been falsely
declared in Hatoyama's political funds reports and that his 87-year-old mother
may have contributed some of the money, according to sources close to the
matter.
In the latest survey, calls were made to numbers randomly generated by
computer. A total of 1,471 eligible voters were reached, of whom 1,026 replied.
The support rate rose 1.6 points to 45.0 percent for the ruling Democratic
Party of Japan and declined 4.9 points to 16.2 percent for the Liberal
Democratic Party, which was toppled from power in an Aug. 30 general election.
==Kyodo