Approval rate for Japanese cabinet decreases to all-time low of 35.9 pct ahead of Olympics

TOKYO, July 18– The support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s cabinet decreased to 35.9 percent, hitting the bottom since he took office last year, a Kyodo News poll reviewed Sunday. In the two-day survey over the weekend, 87.0 percent of the surveyed expressed concern over Tokyo hosting the Olympics and Paralympics amid the pandemic.

TOKYO, July 18 (Xinhua) — The support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s cabinet decreased to 35.9 percent, hitting the bottom since he took office last year, a Kyodo News poll reviewed Sunday.

The poll showed signs of public discontent with the government’s determination to hold the Tokyo Olympic Games amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the two-day survey over the weekend, 87.0 percent of the surveyed expressed concern over Tokyo hosting the Olympics and Paralympics amid the pandemic.

Meanwhile, 67.9 percent of the respondents held doubt about the effectiveness of the latest state of emergency over COVID-19 in the capital city.

Regarding the retraction of a government proposal to request lenders and liquor wholesalers to help enforce a ban on restaurants serving alcohol during the state of emergency, 72.3 percent said Suga was responsible for the confusion caused, while 26.1 percent said Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the COVID-19 response, who proposed the plan, should step down.

In the previous survey conducted last month, the support rate for Suga’s cabinet stood at 44.0 percent, while 42.2 percent expressed disapproval. Enditem