Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who enjoyed unprecedented popularity, was criticized for not properly responding to high inflation, and suspicions that she slandered an opponent candidate in the last election coincided with a red light on her approval rating.
Jiji News reported on the 19th that as a result of a survey of 2,000 voters nationwide from the 12th to the 15th, the approval rating for Takaichi's cabinet was 54.3%, down 5.1 percentage points from the previous month, the lowest since the administration took office.
The proportion of respondents who did not support it rose 2.5 percentage points to 22.2%, the highest since the administration took office.
Jiji News analyzed that the high price situation caused hardships in the people's lives, and that Prime Minister Takaichi's camp created and distributed a video criticizing rival candidates at the time, including Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, in last year's Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, which contributed to the decline in approval ratings.
Prime Minister Takaichi has repeatedly maintained that he was not involved in the video defaming the opponent candidate, but in a Jiji News opinion poll, 40.4% of people responded that his explanation was "unconvincing."
Only 19.4% said ‘I can understand’ and 40.2% said ‘I don’t know’.
A senior member of the Liberal Democratic Party expressed concern about the repercussions of the suspicion of a video criticizing an opponent's candidate by telling Jiji News Agency, saying, "It has the same effect as a body blow (a technique of hitting the opponent's solar plexus, etc. in martial arts)."
An executive of the Japan Restoration Association, which forms the ruling coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, also commented bitterly, saying, “The Prime Minister’s explanation is unreasonable.”
There is also continued criticism that Takaichi's cabinet failed to properly respond to the high inflation situation triggered by the Middle East crisis.
The move to lower the food consumption tax rate by 1%, which is a step backwards from the original plan, as promised in the general election for the House of Representatives (House of Representatives), appears to have encouraged a decline in approval ratings.
In fact, 40.7% of respondents answered that the food consumption tax rate that the government should temporarily reduce was '0%', while only 29.4% chose '1%'.
Amid criticism over the rollback of the food consumption tax rate pledge, Prime Minister Takaichi explained at a press conference held after the G7 summit in Evian, France on the 17th (local time), "In order to realize tax cuts early, adjustments can be made based on the 'practical zero tax rate' plan, which sets the tax rate to 1% and then appropriates 1% of tax revenue for subsidies."
However, Junya Ogawa, head of the moderate reform coalition, said the Takaichi cabinet's high inflation measures were insufficient and pointed out that "people's lives are going backwards."
The Liberal Democratic Party maintained the lead in political party approval ratings at 22.8%, but this figure decreased by 5.0 percentage points compared to the previous month.
The opposition party's approval ratings were also low, with the Opposition Party at 2.9%, Komeito at 2.3%, and the People's Democratic Party, Center for Reform Alliance, and Japan Restoration at 2.1% each, while the number of independents who chose 'no political party to support' reached 56.4%.
Minister Minoru Kihara, a spokesperson for the Japanese government, avoided specific comments when asked about the decline in approval ratings at a press conference the previous day, but said, "Since the inauguration of the administration, we have kept our promise to build a strong economy, diplomacy, and security, and we plan to continue to strengthen and enrich the Japanese archipelago." (Reporting Assistant: Correspondent Kim Ji-su)
