66% approve of Kan's new Cabinet / Stance on Ozawa most likely factor

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet approval rating rose to 66 percent in the wake of a recent reshuffle, a public opinion survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun has shown.

The survey was conducted Friday and Saturday by telephone.

It showed a seven-point increase from the 59 percent recorded in a previous poll taken Sept. 3-5 during the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election campaign.

The figure also marked a record high for Kan's Cabinet, surpassing the 64 percent approval rate recorded in a similar survey June 8-9 just after his administration was inaugurated.

Despite the high figures, reasons for supporting the Kan Cabinet were not all positive. The largest portion of those who approved of the Cabinet, 24 percent, said they did so because the administration is not controlled by the Liberal Democratic Party. Only 2 percent said they approved of the Cabinet because of the prime minister's leadership, down from the 17 percent recorded just after the Kan Cabinet launched.

The Cabinet's latest disapproval rate was 25 percent, compared with 28 percent in the previous survey.

Support rates for the political parties were 36 percent for the DPJ, up from 35 percent in the previous survey, and 18 percent for the LDP, down from 19 percent. Mirroring the reasons for the Cabinet's high rating, 26 percent of those who supported the DPJ said it was because the party was not the LDP.

Breaking down the respondents' rating by party allegiance, 85 percent of DPJ supporters approved of the Kan Cabinet, while 53 percent of LDP supporters also approved. Among swing voters, 54 percent supported the Cabinet.

Kan's stance on DPJ heavyweight Ozawa likely raised the overall approval rating and was a common factor among the various respondents in favor of the new lineup.

Kan did not appoint former party head Ozawa to any cabinet post, nor has Ozawa been granted a position on the ruling party's executive board. Seventy percent of those surveyed responded positively to Kan distancing himself from Ozawa.

Broken down via party support, 71 percent of DPJ supporters, 69 percent of LDP supporters and 67 percent of swing voters praised Kan's stance.

However, 68 percent believe that Ozawa will maintain a strong influence within the DPJ, compared with 25 percent who disagree.

Concerning the new lineup of party executives and Cabinet members, 67 percent praised the appointment of Katsuya Okada as party secretary general, while 19 percent responded negatively.

Regarding Seiji Maehara's appointment as the new foreign minister, 58 percent were in favor and 22 percent were not.

Meanwhile, 58 percent approved of Yoshihiro Katayama, the former governor of Tottori Prefecture, becoming the internal affairs and communications minister.

Asked whether the DPJ will be able to remain united under Kan, 36 percent said yes and 49 percent said no.

During the party leadership race, Ozawa said he would neither resign nor leave the DPJ even if he were indicted over a money-and-politics scandal involving his political fund management entity.

About 79 percent of survey respondents, however, were unconvinced by Ozawa's claims.

Regarding the Kan Cabinet's policies, 24 percent were in favor of its reactions to the recent rise in the yen's value and fall of stock prices, while 62 percent disagreed, marking a contrast to the 6 percent approval rate given in a survey conducted Aug. 28-29.

While the respondents' evaluation of the Kan Cabinet's economic policies remained low, the rise was apparently because of market intervention by the government and the Bank of Japan--the first in 6-1/2 years.

Meanwhile, 69 percent thought it was good that Kan has vowed to discuss a consumption tax hike as part of reforms of social welfare systems.