The sudden resignation Monday of farm minister Tadamori Oshima is a further blow to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, already fighting battles over public opinion and his handling of the economy.
Experts claim that the resignation itself is not likely to trigger an immediate decline in his support rating, which currently hovers just below the 50 percent line.
But public distrust of the Koizumi administration may materialize if the war in Iraq is prolonged and the economy digs itself deeper into its rut.