Suga Cabinet disapproval tops approval for first time

The public disapproval rate for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Cabinet jumped 13.1 percentage points from the previous month to 39.7% in January, while the approval rate declined 8.9 points to 34.2%, a Jiji Press survey showed Friday.

Disapproval topped approval for the first time since the Suga Cabinet was launched in September last year.

On reasons for supporting the Cabinet, with multiple answers allowed, 16.4% said there is no other person than Suga who is suitable as prime minister, 8.0% said they trust him and 6.4% said they have a good image of him.

Of those who disapproved of the Cabinet, 23.5% said they cannot expect anything from Suga, 22.6% said he lacks good leadership skills and 15.4% said they do not trust him.

The survey also showed that 61.4% of respondents said they do not highly regard the government’s response to the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The government’s coronavirus response was praised by 18.5% of respondents, while 20.1% said they cannot tell or do not know.

The survey was conducted for four days through Monday, soon after the government declared a second state of emergency in Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa on Jan. 7 amid surges in coronavirus cases.

On the government’s “Go To Travel” tourism promotion campaign, which has been temporarily suspended nationwide, 54.9% said it should be discontinued while 29.1% said it should be continued, with 16.0% replying that they cannot tell or do not know.

By political party, Suga’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party was supported by 23.7% and Komeito, the LDP’s junior coalition partner, by 3.9%.

The support rate stood at 3.1% for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the lowest level since the party was created in September last year through the merger of the former CDP and the Democratic Party for the People.

The support rate came to 1.7% for the Japanese Communist Party, 1.6% for Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), 0.8% for the Social Democratic Party and 0.5% for the DPP.

Reiwa Shinsengumi drew support of 0.2% and NHK Kara Kokumin o Mamoru To, which campaigns against the nation’s public broadcaster NHK, or Japan Broadcasting Corp., 0.1%.

Respondents who backed no particular party accounted for 62.8%.

The interview-based survey covered 1,953 people aged 18 or older in Japan, excluding the prefectures of Toyama, Fukui and Miyazaki due to heavy snow or effects of the coronavirus epidemic. Valid responses were received from 62.0%.