Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida fell in a major poll to its lowest since he took office, with rising prices and mistrust over the rollout of a national ID card helping to push down his rating.
A survey carried out by the Yomiuri newspaper and broadcaster NNN between July 21-23 found approval had sagged to 35%, the weakest since Kishida won election in Oct. 2021. In a separate poll by the Mainichi newspaper released late Sunday, his support fell to 28%, below the 30% line often seen as the danger zone for Japanese leaders.
Kishida is reported to be mulling reshuffling his cabinet in the coming weeks in a bid to shore up public support and help him retain control of his long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party just over a year before his term as party leader ends. His falling support means he would probably have little to gain by calling a general election before the end of the year, as had at one time been expected.
While the premier came to office pledging to improve incomes, some 79% of respondents to the Yomiuri survey said they didn’t have a positive opinion of the government’s efforts to ease the effects of price rises by providing subsidies.
Private-sector members of an advisory panel to Kishida last week urged the government to phase out its price-relief package and focus support on those with low incomes. The proposal came as Japan’s inflation accelerated slightly in June, although economists forecast a slowdown in the coming months.
Meanwhile, a series of blunders in the introduction of the national ID card has undermined public faith in a move meant to streamline access to health care, improve monitoring of tax payments as well as government handouts. The troubles have included people who have found their ID cards linked to personal information about unrelated individuals.
The Yomiuri poll showed 58% of respondents were against the use of the ID card for health-care access. Almost 80% said they didn’t believe a government review currently underway would resolve the problems with the system.
The government’s handling of a plan to release treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant into the ocean has also come in for criticism, with 53% of respondents to the Mainichi survey saying there hadn’t been enough explanation of the release. The Mainichi poll was conducted July 22-23.
