(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Public confidence in the government headed by Yukio Hatoyama has eroded considerably in Japan, according to a poll by Mainichi. 51 per cent of respondents disapprove of the current cabinet, up 34 points since October 2009.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Public confidence in the government headed by Yukio Hatoyama has eroded considerably in Japan, according to a poll by Mainichi. 51 per cent of respondents disapprove of the current cabinet, up 34 points since October 2009.
In August 2009, Japanese voters renewed the House of Representatives. Final results gave the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) a victory with 308 of the 480 lower house seats at stake. DPJ leader Hatoyama was sworn in as prime minister in September.
Aside from a brief period in the 1990s, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had administered Japan’s government for more than five decades.
The former LDP-led government was marred by corruptions scandals. The new government has been the subject of suspicions as well.
In December, Hatoyama was criticized after it was revealed that political donations registered under the names of several individuals actually came from his mother. The Japanese prime minister has acknowledged receiving a monthly contribution of about $164,000 U.S. from his mother, but vowed to pay back taxes and penalties amounting to about $6.5 million U.S.
In January, three current and former aides of Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ’s secretary general, were arrested and charged with falsifying information in party fundraising reports. The three men were identified as Mitsutomo Ikeda, current DPJ lawmaker Tomohiro Ishikawa, and Takanori Okubo.
On Mar. 29, Hatoyama looked back on the first six months of his tenure, declaring, "It’s been half a year since we took power. I think we still have problems as we are inexperienced. But we must not turn back the hands of the clock. I would like to set the hands forward for a great future, so I would like to ask the Japanese people to guide us with patience."
Polling Data
Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of Yukio Hatoyama’s cabinet?
|
Apr. 2010
|
Oct. 2009
|
|
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Approve
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33%
|
72%
|
|
Disapprove
|
51%
|
17%
|
Source: Mainichi
Methodology: Interviews with 1,044 Japanese adults, conducted on Apr. 17 and Apr. 18, 2010. No margin of error was provided.
