TOKYO (MNI) – The cabinet’s approval rating has fallen to 22%, down
2 points from April, with a majority of voters calling for Prime
Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s resignation over his blunder on the U.S.
military base relocation, according to the latest Nikkei opinion poll.

The disapproval rating edged up 1 point to 69%, the Nikkei reported
on Monday.

After Prime Minister sacked Mizuho Fukushima, a cabinet minister
who represents the Social Democratic Party, a small coalition partner,
the Social Democrats have decided to leave the three-party ruling bloc.

Before the Lower House elections last August, Hatoyama, who heads
the Democratic Party of Japan, promised to relocate a controversial U.S.
air base on the southern island chain of Okinawa somewhere outside the
prefecture.

The DPJ scored a landslide win in the elections on voters’
disappointment with the lack of leadership under the Liberal Democratic
Party. But several months after taking power away from the LDP, Hatoyama
himself has shown that he cannot make up his mind on key policy issues.

It is uncertain whether Hatoyama will be still leading the DPJ when
Upper House elections are held sometime this summer, possibly in July.

In the key Lower House, the DPJ holds 310 seats, easily clearing a
majority of the 480-seat chamber without support of other parties, but
in the Upper House, the DPJ and its small allies have 122 seats, a tight
majority of the 242-seat chamber without counting the five seats held by
the Social Democrats.

Hatoyama’s disastrous performance on the base issue has also eroded
support for the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said the business
daily.

The DPJ’s approval rating dropped 2 points to 25%, while that of
the opposition Liberal Democratic Party rose 2 points to 23%.

The public appears extremely upset about the prime minister’s
failure to deliver on his promise to move the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma
base outside Okinawa, with 63% of respondents urging him to step down to
take responsibility.

Asked why they do not support the cabinet, 66% blamed a lack of
leadership, up 2 points from the previous poll. A lack of stability was
cited by 38%, followed by poor management of the government and the
party, named by 36%.

Among those who support the cabinet, 46% said they do so because it
is a DPJ-led government, followed by the 24% who trust the members.

A whopping 67% of those surveyed said they do not think the cabinet
is doing a good job, up 10 points. Those approving of its job
performance fell 8 points to 21%.

The public took issue with the cabinet’s handling of the issue of
money and politics, with 29% identifying it as a reason for not liking
its job performance. The cabinet’s stance on national security and
foreign policy was cited by 18% of those who gave harsh assessments,
reflecting public disappointment on the base issue.

On the government’s decision to move the Futenma base to the Henoko
area of the city of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, 66% of those surveyed
said they do not agree with it, compared with the 21% who support the
decision.

Even the cabinet’s promise not to raise the consumption tax for
four years has failed to pay political dividends, with 49% saying they
oppose it, down 1 point. The percentage of those who support the pledge
remained unchanged at 37%.

The survey was conducted Friday through Sunday in cooperation with
TV Tokyo Corp. It polled 1,579 households with at least one eligible
voter, with 59.7% supplying valid responses.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4833 **

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