The support rate for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has hit new lows in three major polls, putting further pressure on his leadership as he tries to push an extra budget through parliament to support his latest economic package.
Polls released Monday by three of Japan’s biggest newspapers — the Yomiuri, Asahi and Mainichi — showed Kishida’s support rate at 24%, 25% and 21%, respectively. The levels are all below the 30% mark seen as a danger zone for Japanese prime ministers and are likely to fuel speculation that Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party may consider making a change at the top. The LDP is due to hold a leadership election next September.
"You can’t simply switch between joy and despair in response to polls,” Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said, acknowledging the survey figures were a tough assessment of the government and its stimulus measures. "Instead, you must resolutely get on with the tasks that can’t be put off — that’s the prime minister’s basic thinking in my view.”