AFP, TOKYO
Approval ratings for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba have fallen ahead of a general election on Sunday, one weekend poll showed, with another survey suggesting the ruling coalition could struggle to secure a majority.
Former Japanese minister of defense Ishiba took office this month after being voted leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been in power for most of Japan’s post-war history.
Scandals over funding and LDP lawmakers’ ties to the Unification Church — compounded by voter discontent over rising prices — caused the party’s ratings to plummet during the tenure of Ishiba’s predecessor, former Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, front left, and former Japanese representative Shohei Okashita, front right, wave to supporters during a election campaign event in Osaka, Japan, on Sunday.
Photo: Bloomberg
A Kyodo News survey on Saturday and Sunday put the approval rating for Ishiba’s Cabinet at 41.4 percent, down from 42.0 percent a week earlier.
The disapproval rating was 40.4 percent in the most recent survey of 1,260 voters, Kyodo said on Sunday. Disapproval in the previous poll was 36.7 percent.
“This election will be really tough and difficult for us,” Ishiba told voters in a campaign speech last week.
A separate weekend survey by the liberal-leaning Asahi Shimbun found that public support for Ishiba’s Cabinet was at 33 percent, below 39 percent who disapproved.
Those results are worse than Kishida faced in 2021 ahead of his first general election as prime minister: 42 percent approval against 31 percent disapproval, the Asahi said.
The daily said its polls indicated that the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito ran the risk of losing a majority in the upcoming election.
Jiji Press said its polls and reporting showed the coalition was likely to retain its majority, although the LDP might not pass the threshold on its own — a possibility reflected in several previous polls by other outlets.
The conservative LDP and Komeito, a moderate party backed by a Buddhist-linked group, have been in power since 2012 when late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe won a landslide victory.
If the LDP loses its majority it would be the first time since 2009, when the party was beaten in an election by the more left-wing opposition.
“Regardless of whether or not we lose our majority, we should hold positive talks with parties that are trying to develop the country with the same policies,” LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama said in a debate program aired by public broadcaster NHK on Sunday.
