Approval rate for Aso's Cabinet stands at 48.6%: Kyodo poll

TOKYO, Sept. 25 Kyodo - The approval rate for Prime Minister Taro Aso's just-inaugurated Cabinet stood
at 48.6 percent Thursday, according to the latest Kyodo News poll, lower than
the 57.8 percent for his predecessor Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet just after its
launch last September.
Aso, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, easily outscored Ichiro
Ozawa, president of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, in terms of
suitability as prime minister, by 53.9 percent to 29.4 percent.
The nationwide telephone poll, conducted Wednesday and Thursday, showed the
disapproval rate for the Aso Cabinet stood at 32.9 percent.
Asked which political party they would vote for if an election is called for
the House of Representatives, respondents were equally split between the LDP
and the DPJ with the former receiving 34.9 percent and the latter receiving
34.8 percent.
Aso was elected prime minister in the Diet on Wednesday and immediately formed
his Cabinet. The LDP is apparently hoping that his relative popularity will
provide it with a much-needed boost as it heads toward a general election
expected in the coming months.
But in the latest poll, 43.8 percent said a government led by the DPJ would be
better than one led by the LDP, up 2.1 percentage points from the previous
survey early last month. Those who favored an LDP-led government accounted for
38.1 percent, down 5.2 points.
As for other parties that people may vote for at the next election, the New
Komeito party, the LDP's coalition partner, received 5.7 percent of support,
while the Japanese Communist Party had 2.7 percent, the Social Democratic Party
1.2 percent, the People's New Party 0.4 percent and New Party Nippon 0.2
percent.
As to the timing of an election, which some expect to be called as early as
November, 69.4 percent said it should be held after economic stimulus measures
have been implemented. Only 23.5 percent said the lower house should be
dissolved immediately.
According to the poll, 31.9 percent of those who approved of the Cabinet said
they did so because there was no alternative, while 20.8 percent of those who
disapproved of the Cabinet said they did so because it was the LDP-New Komeito
coalition government.
Asked if they could expect very much of the new Cabinet and the LDP leadership,
28.7 percent said they could and 46.6 percent said they could not.
Referring to newspaper polls showing similar support rates, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura told an evening news conference Thursday that he
thinks the Aso Cabinet has got about a passing grade.
''I hope it (the approval rate) will increase, but it is said that 50 percent
is the pass mark in the case of approval and disapproval ratings.''
''Though it would be better if the approval rate was high, we're not at a stage
where we need to worry about it. We need to build public confidence by
producing solid results,'' he said.
In the survey, Kyodo News called telephone numbers randomly selected by
computer. From the 1,455 households nationwide containing eligible voters among
those called, 1,028 people responded.
==Kyodo