(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The new Prime Minister of Japan begins his tenure with high ratings, according to four recent public opinion polls. At least 60 per cent of respondents approve of Naoto Kan’s cabinet.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The new Prime Minister of Japan begins his tenure with high ratings, according to four recent public opinion polls. At least 60 per cent of respondents approve of Naoto Kan’s cabinet.
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. Yukio Hatoyama, the DPJ leader, 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.
On Jun. 2, Hatoyama tendered his resignation, citing a broken election promise over the permanence of an American army base in the Okinawa prefecture. Hatoyama had also been embroiled in a corruption scandal over campaign funding irregularities.
On Jun. 8, former finance minister Kan took over as prime minister. Since the retirement of Junichiro Koizumi in September 2006, Japan has had five different heads of government: Shinzo Abe, Yasuo Fukuda and Taro Aso of the LDP; and Hatoyama and Kan of the DPJ.
On Jun. 11, Kan discussed the state of affairs in Japan, saying, "It is difficult to continue our fiscal policies by heavily relying on the issuance of government bond. Like the confusion in the eurozone triggered by Greece, there is a risk of collapse if we leave the increase of the public debt untouched and then lose the trust of the bond markets."
Polling Data
Do you approve or disapprove of Naoto Kan’s cabinet?
|
Asahi
|
Yomiuri
|
Mainichi
|
Nikkei
|
|
|
Approve
|
60%
|
64%
|
66%
|
68%
|
|
Disapprove
|
20%
|
19%
|
18%
|
16%
|
Source: Asahi / Yomiuri / Mainichi / Nikkei
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,088 Japanese adults, 1,090 Japanese adults, 1,034 Japanese adults and 888 Japanese adults, conducted on Jun. 8 and Jun. 9, 2010. Margins of error range from 3 to 4 per cent.
