Public Disapproval Rating for Mori Cabinet Hits New HighsPublic disapproval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's cabinet climbed to new highs around 70 percent while its support rate fell further, surveys conducted by three leading Japanese newspapers showed Tuesday.The Yomiuri Shimbun said a weekend interview poll showed the disapproval rating jumped 14.1 percentage points from a previous poll conducted in October to 70.5 percent, and the support rate fell 11.8 points to 18.4 percent, the lowest level since Mori launched his first cabinet in April. The daily attributed the drop in the support rate partly to a strife in Mori's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) following calls for Mori's resignation by reformist LDP factions, including one led by former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato. The paper contacted 3,000 eligible voters across Japan, 1,952, or 65.1 percent, responded. The Asahi Shimbun's latest poll indicated a record-high of 64 percent of respondents said they do not support the cabinet, up from 56 percent in an October telephone survey, while only 18 percent, a record low, said they do support it, down from 23 percent. The daily interviewed 3,000 eligible voters across Japan on Sunday and Monday, of whom 70 percent responded. Meanwhile, a poll conducted by the Sankei Shimbun from last Friday through Sunday, showed the disapproval rating hit a new high of 68.4 percent, up from 62.4 percent in July, and the support rate stood at 14.6 percent, down from 22.2 percent. |
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