Support for Japan PM’s cabinet lowest since it was formed

TOKYO: Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida slid to the lowest level since he took office last October, with voters questioning his decision to hold a state funeral for former premier Shinzo Abe, public broadcaster NHK said on Monday.

Support for Kishida’s cabinet totalled 46%, down from 59% in the previous survey three weeks ago, while the disapproval rating rose to 28% from 21% over the same period, NHK said.

The results of the survey, conducted by phone and involving 1,223 respondents, came just two days ahead of a planned reshuffle of the cabinet and leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Abe was gunned down last month at a campaign rally and the government decided to hold a state funeral in September. But the move to pay for the ceremony for Japan’s longest-serving premier, who was also a divisive figure, has faced criticism.

Kishida’s ministers and ruling party lawmakers face public scrutiny over their relationship with the Unification Church, a religious group to which the mother of the man who shot Abe belonged, and which is reported to have had particularly close links with the LDP faction Abe led.

In the NHK poll, 82% of respondents said they did not believe political parties and lawmakers had sufficiently explained themselves about their ties with the Unification Church, known for its mass weddings and devoted following.

Kishida said after the election, which saw his ruling Liberal Democratic Party increase its share of seats in the upper house of parliament, that he would take up the issues that Abe was passionate about. That would include trying to change the constitution to clarify the legality of its military.

Abe, Kishida’s former boss, was one of the most outspoken proponents of a stronger military and of revising the constitution to add an explicit reference to the Self-Defence Forces. The idea of changing the document remains divisive among voters.

Kishida also said he wanted to respond swiftly to soaring prices by drawing on 5.5 trillion yen ($59 billion) of reserves already put aside from existing budgets. If it becomes clear that more help for the economy is needed, then he’d have another stimulus package put together with an additional budget, he said.