Japan PM Kishida's approval hits new low after ministers resign

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s public support slipped to a new low in a poll published on Sunday, as

a series of Cabinet resignations

has compounded anger over the ruling party’s ties to a controversial religious group.

Support for Mr Kishida’s cabinet fell to 33.1 per cent from 37.6 per cent a month ago in the Kyodo news poll, his lowest in the agency’s surveys since he took office in October 2021. Kyodo found disapproval at 51.6 per cent, exceeding 50 per cent for the first time.

Mr Kishida’s support has been sliding since the July assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

revealed deep and long-standing ties between ruling Liberal Democratic Party politicians and the Unification Church,

a group that critics say is a cult.

Exacerbating the government’s problems, scandals have forced three Cabinet members from office since last month.

The Kyodo poll found 62.4 per cent of respondents disapproving of how Mr Kishida had handled the resignations of Economic Revitalisation Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa, Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi and Internal Affairs Minister Minoru Terada.

Mr Kishida’s approval failed to get a boost from a US$200 billion (S$275 billion) economic support package to ease inflationary pains fuelled by the yen’s plunge to 32-year-lows.

On the government’s push to boost Japan’s defence capabilities, 60.8 per cent in the Kyodo survey said they would support the country acquiring counterattack capabilities - controversial under the pacifist constitution - to boosting deterrence, while 35 per cent opposed it. REUTERS