Asia-Pacific

Disapproval for Kan's Cabinet hits all-time high

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-27 11:11

TOKYO - The disapproval rate for Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet rose to an all-time high in the latest polls, local media reported on Monday.

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According to the nationwide poll taken over the weekend by the Kyodo News, the disapproval rate hit 67.0 percent, while the support rate for the Cabinet hung at around 23.6 percent.

Kyodo also noted that Kan's predecessor Yukio Hatoyama was forced to resign after disapproval rate for his Cabinet approached the alarming 73.2 percent level.

The poll covered 1,453 random households with eligible voters and drew valid responses from 1,034 people.

Separately, the Nikkei newspaper said that the approval rating for Kan's Cabinet, dropped 4 percentage points to 26 percent, to a fresh low in December from the previous month's survey.

According to the Nikkei, the disapproval rating climbed 5 points to 65 percent.

The survey also revealed that the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which is also led by Kan, saw its approval rating retreat 1 point to 29 percent, while the opposition Liberal Democratic Party's fell 2 points to 28 percent.

Nikkei Research Inc. surveyed 1,526 households on Saturday and Sunday, with 61.1 percent responded.

Kan is Japan's fifth prime minister in three years and his Democratic Party has pledged to tackle the nation's fragile economic recovery that continues to be stifled by decades of crippling deflation, while public debt is twice the size of the nation's $5 trillion economy and a strong yen has battered Japan's export-led recovery.