Support rate for Hatoyama Cabinet plunges 16.5 points to 47.2%+

TOKYO, Dec. 26 Kyodo -
Public approval of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet has plunged in the
wake of the indictments of two of his former aides, with the support rate
falling below 50 percent for the first time since he took office three months
ago, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday.
The support rate stood at 47.2 percent, down 16.5 percentage points from about
a month ago, in a survey carried out after prosecutors indicted two of
Hatoyama's former secretaries without arrest over falsified fund reports on
Thursday. The disapproval rate rose 13.0 points to 38.1 percent.
Roughly three quarters of those surveyed -- 76.1 percent -- said they were not
convinced by the account Hatoyama gave on the alleged irregularities involving
his political fund management group. Hatoyama was not indicted due to
insufficient evidence of involvement.
Only 17.8 percent said Hatoyama's explanation was convincing.
But asked whether he should step down, 64.3 percent said they want Hatoyama to
remain in office but added he should give a full explanation on the matter,
while 21.1 percent called for him to resign.
On Thursday, former Secretary Keiji Katsuba, 59, was indicted on a charge of
falsifying the premier's funding reports for five years through last year.
Daisuke Haga, 55, another former secretary who also served as the chief
accountant for Hatoyama's political funds, was indicted on a charge of gross
negligence for failing to notice the falsification.
Hours after the indictments, Hatoyama made clear his intention to stay in his
job in a national televised press conference.
The indictments came on the 100th day since the launch of the Hatoyama
government, following a landslide victory in the general election by his
Democratic Party of Japan in late August.
The support rate for the Hatoyama Cabinet stood at 72.0 percent in a Kyodo News
survey shortly after its inauguration in mid-September, but dropped to 61.8
percent in October and then rebounded slightly to 63.7 percent last month.
In the latest telephone survey, calls were made Friday and Saturday to numbers
randomly generated by computer. A total of 1,470 eligible voters were reached,
of whom 1,030 replied.
The support rate for the DPJ dropped 8.9 points to 36.1 percent, compared with
23.7 percent for the Liberal Democratic Party, up 7.5 points.
Other than the two main parties, readings came to 1.9 for the New Komeito
party, 1.3 for the Japanese Communist Party, 1.8 for the Social Democratic
Party, 1.7 for Your Party and 1.1 for the People's New Party.
In response to questions about key domestic issues, 51.1 percent showed
support, fully or partially, for the government's decision to scrap provisional
surcharges on gasoline and automobiles but to maintain the same tax rates --
contrary to its election campaign manifesto.
However, 57 percent expressed disapproval of its decision not to impose an
income limit for families to receive monthly allowances for children.
The government's policy of delaying finalizing the relocation site for the U.S.
Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa drew dissatisfaction to a certain
degree from 67.9 percent of the respondents.
Forty-one percent called for the Futemma facility to be moved out of Japan,
although another city in the southern prefecture was designated for the
relocation in a 2006 bilateral accord that the DPJ is seeking to review.
As to a meeting earlier this month between Emperor Akihito and Chinese Vice
President Xi Jinping, which was arranged in breach of imperial protocol, 54.7
percent think it was tantamount to political exploitation of the emperor while
37.9 percent said this was not the case.
The government arranged the audience for Xi against a customary rule that such
a meeting should be requested at least a month in advance. The Imperial
Household Agency later expressed concern about possible political exploitation
of the emperor.
==Kyodo