My Number, Fukushima concerns push Kishida Cabinet support rate down
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference as part of the EU-Japan Summit at the European Union Building in Brussels on Thursday. | AFP-JIJI
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference as part of the EU-Japan Summit at the European Union Building in Brussels on Thursday. | AFP-JIJI
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Jul 16, 2023
The approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet continued to slide to around 34%, a Kyodo News poll showed Sunday, as the government grapples with the trouble-plagued national identification card system and concerns associated with Fukushima nuclear disaster cleanup efforts.
The support rating dropped to 34.3% from 40.8% in the previous poll in mid-June, while the disapproval rating increased to 48.6% from 41.6%, according to the three-day nationwide telephone survey conducted from Friday.
The lowest approval rate since Kishida took office in October 2021 is the 33.1% that was logged in November and December last year.
The support rate for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party stood at 30.1%, the lowest since the party returned to power in December 2012.
As the government prepares to discharge treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1. nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, 80.3% of respondents said they felt the explanation provided by the government on the issue was insufficient.
Only 16.1% said the government's explanation is enough.
A total of 87.4%, meanwhile, said the release of such water, even though the government has vowed to ensure it will be carried out safely, will more or less create economic damage through groundless rumors.
The government is moving ahead to decide when to begin discharging the wastewater, with concerns lingering especially among the country's fishermen about the potentially adverse impact the discharge could have on their businesses as well as among neighboring countries such as China.
So far, the government has only committed to starting the release sometime "around the summer," but August could be a possible option, considering Kishida's busy diplomatic schedule in September.
On the release itself, which is said to be necessary to continue with the work to scrap the nuclear reactors that suffered meltdowns, the public was divided, with 31.3% of respondents approving the move, 25.6% against it and 43.1% unable to say on which side they stood.
The poll also showed 76.6% calling for the postponement or cancellation of the government's plan to scrap health insurance cards and incorporate them into My Number ID cards in the fall of next year, following a series of personal information leaks and registration errors regarding the system.
That number increased from the previous survey's 72.1%.
A total of 32.7% said they do not want to become cardholders in the future, with some saying they would rather return the cards to the government, and 74.7% responded they do not think the government's plan to thoroughly check the system by the fall will resolve the problems.
Facing sluggish approval ratings, Kishida has been considering reshuffling his Cabinet and the leadership of the LDP in mid-September, lawmakers have recently said.
By political party, the LDP maintained the highest support rate with 30.1%, which was followed by 10.6% of respondents favoring the opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai and 8.7% preferring the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
The LDP's junior coalition ally Komeito secured 5.9% of support.
A total of 32.5% said they did not support any political party.
The poll called 491 randomly selected households with eligible voters on landline phones and 1,829 mobile phone numbers. It yielded responses from 416 people from households and 618 mobile phone users.
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