Cabinet support sinks to new low

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Cabinet support sinks to new low
Reinstating gas tax also unpopular with public
Kyodo News
The support rate for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda plunged 6.8 percentage points from mid-March to 26.6 percent, the lowest level since the start of his administration last September, according to a new poll by Kyodo News.

The survey also found that 64.4 percent of the respondents are against the ruling coalition's plan to use a second vote in the House of Representatives to reinstate extra rates on the gasoline tax, which expired at the end of March.



The survey covered 1,032 randomly selected voters in a telephone poll Friday and Saturday.

It was the first time since September — in the closing days of the administration of Shinzo Abe following his abrupt resignation announcement — that the approval ratings for a Cabinet dipped below 30 percent, which is widely seen as the "danger" line.

The respondents who said they disapprove of Fukuda's Cabinet hit 59.6 percent, marking a 9 percentage point increase from the last poll.

Among the respondents who disapproved of Fukuda, 32.5 percent said the prime minister lacked any leadership, while 24 percent gave a thumbs down to Fukuda's economic policy management.

These results apparently reflect Fukuda's inability — in the face of rejection from the opposition-controlled Upper House — to appoint a new Bank of Japan governor, leaving the top central bank position vacant since Toshihiko Fukui retired on March 19.

Fukuda also failed to extend the provisional extra rates on the gasoline tax, whose revenue has been used exclusively to finance road construction projects, after the Upper House refused to vote on the government's tax bill in time for the start of the new fiscal year.

The ruling coalition plans to put the bill to a second vote in the Lower House and pass the legislation into law on the strength of its overwhelming majority in the chamber. The Constitution allows the Lower House to pass with a two-thirds majority a bill that the Upper House has either voted down or failed to act on for 60 days after getting the proposed legislation.

However, a majority of the survey respondents are against reinstating the extra rates, which would tack ¥25 per liter on the price of gasoline. Only 26 percent said they support a second vote on the tax bill, which can take place at the end of April.

Almost 60 percent said they support Fukuda's plan to allow revenue from the gasoline and other road-related taxes to be freed up for spending in areas other than road projects starting in fiscal 2009.

But 52.2 percent called for permanent abolition of the extra rates on the gasoline tax, which have been imposed as a "provisional" measure since the 1970s. Fukuda has said the government needs to extra rates to weather the government's tight fiscal situation.

Only 19.1 percent of the respondents said they believe Fukuda's administration has fulfilled its commitment to resolve the pension record-keeping blunder, while 63.9 percent said it has broken its promise.

Yet 83.8 percent of the respondents said they do not think Health, Labor and Welfare Yoichi Masuzoe should resign to take the blame for the initial fiasco and problems in completing the promised work to match some 50 million unidentified pension accounts.

The Democratic Party of Japan has indicated it may submit a censure motion against Masuzoe in the Upper House.

Cabinet support sinks to new low | The Japan Times Online