Asia-Pacific
Japan govt rating below 50% on PM doubts - poll
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-18 15:16
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TOKYO: Support for Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government has fallen below 50 percent, a Jiji Press poll showed on Friday, sharply below that of other polls.
Most recent polls have shown support for the government falling but to just under 60 percent. Public opinion polls by Jiji, conducted through face-to-face interviews, tend to be out of line with other polls, which are conducted by phone.
Jiji's poll showed support for Hatoyama's government sliding 7.6 percentage points from last month to 46.8 percent.
Hatoyama took office in September after a landslide election victory for his Democratic Party, but voters' doubts are growing about his leadership on issues such as next year's budget and a planned relocation of a U.S. Marine base in southern Japan.
The Jiji poll of 2,000 voters showed 30.3 percent of voters disapproved of Hatoyama's government, with increasing number of respondents saying Hatoyama lacked leadership.
