Tokyo, Oct 30 The approval rate for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet dropped to 32.1 per cent after the general election, down from 50.7 per cent prior to the vote, a media survey showed.
The survey, conducted via telephone over two days from Monday, showed that 53 per cent of respondents did not want the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito to remain in power following their election setback, while 38.4 per cent favour the coalition's continued governance, Xinhua reported.
The LDP has been struggling to regain public trust after the party's slush fund scandal. In the survey, 79.2 per cent of respondents opposed assigning key roles to scandal-tainted members elected in the recent House of Representatives election, with only 16.3 per cent in support.
When asked about their preferred government, 31.5 per cent favoured a realignment creating a new political structure, followed by 24.6 per cent who supported a government led by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and other opposition parties.
An LDP-Komeito minority government had the least support, at just 18.1 per cent.
On the question of Ishiba's future, 28.6 per cent suggested he should step down due to the coalition's lost majority, while 65.7 per cent found his resignation unnecessary. A significant 91.4 per cent believed the slush fund scandal contributed to the LDP's seat losses.
Party support rates also shifted. The LDP's support dropped from 42.3 per cent in early October to 31.8 per cent, while the CDPJ gained, rising from 11.7 per cent to 20.3 per cent.
The survey, conducted nationwide, reached 511 households and 3,382 mobile numbers, garnering responses from 427 household members and 636 mobile phone users.
Japan's political landscape has entered a period of heightened uncertainty following the October 27 general election, which saw the ruling coalition lose its long-held majority and left no party with a clear mandate to navigate economic challenges that the country is currently facing.
As mandated by the constitution, the Diet must convene a special session within 30 days of the election date, in which the current cabinet led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will collectively resign and newly elected members of the Diet will nominate the next Prime Minister.
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