(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Public support for the Japanese government increased slightly this month, according to a poll by Asahi. 26 per cent of respondents approve of Japanese prime minister Taro Aso’s cabinet, up four points since March.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Public support for the Japanese government increased slightly this month, according to a poll by Asahi. 26 per cent of respondents approve of Japanese prime minister Taro Aso’s cabinet, up four points since March.
Aside from a brief period in the 1990s, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has administered Japan’s government for more than five decades. An election to renew half of the House of Councillors seats took place in July 2007. Final results gave the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 60 of the 121 seats at stake, with the governing LDP winning 37 mandates. The opposition—with 137 seats—now holds a majority in the upper house of Japan’s Diet for the first time since the LDP was founded in 1955.
Since the retirement of Junichiro Koizumi, Japan has had three different LDP leaders and prime ministers. Shinzo Abe served from September 2006 to September 2007, and was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda. In September 2008, Fukuda announced he would step down as he felt "swamped" by the country’s issues. Foreign minister Aso won an internal leadership ballot and was sworn in as Japan’s new prime minister.
On Apr. 22, Aso visited the Yasukuni Shrine, declaring, "I expressed my appreciation and respect as a Japanese national to the people who sacrificed their precious lives for the country."
China and South Korea usually condemn the visits of Japanese prime ministers to the Yasukuni Shrine, saying they amount to an official endorsement of Japan’s aggression during World War II. The site commemorates Japan’s 2.4 million war veterans—including 14 war criminals convicted by a 1948 Allied tribunal—and has been visited by four sitting heads of government since the 1980s.
The next election to the House of Representatives must be held on or before Sept. 6, 2009. Sitting prime ministers can dissolve the Diet and call an early ballot at their discretion.
Polling Data
Do you approve or disapprove of Taro Aso’s cabinet?
|
|
Apr. 2009 |
Mar. 2009 |
Feb. 2009 |
|
Approve |
26% |
22% |
11% |
|
Disapprove |
57% |
64% |
73% |
Source: Asahi
Methodology: Interviews with 1,100 Japanese adults, conducted on Apr. 18 and Apr. 19, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
