Approval rate for Japan’s Kishida cabinet hits another low: Poll

Tokyo, July 12 (IANS) Public support for the Cabinet led by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida fell to 15.5 per cent in July, marking a new low since the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) returned to power in December 2012, a Jiji Press opinion poll showed.
The approval rate slid 0.9 percentage points from June, when the previous low of 16.4 per cent was marked, while the disapproval rate was up 1.4 points to 58.4 per cent, the latest survey showed on Thursday.The survey also showed that 39.3 per cent of respondents were hoping for a change of power after the next election of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Parliament, while 36.3 per cent said they wanted the LDP to stay at the country’s helm, Xinhua news agency reported.Asked which political party they plan to vote for in the envisaged lower House election, 22.5 per cent of respondents chose the LDP, 12.4 per cent for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, 6.3 per cent for the Japan Innovation Party, 4.2 per cent for Komeito, the LDP’s junior coalition partner, and 3 per cent for the Japanese Communist Party, according to the survey.–IANSint/khz