TOKYO: The approval rate for Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio’s cabinet rose 1.2 percentage points from the previous month to 49.9 pct this month, a Jiji Press opinion survey showed Thursday.

The disapproval rate fell 2.0 points to 20.0 pct, while the proportion of respondents who said they had no opinion stood at 30.1 pct, according to the survey, conducted for four days through Monday.

By political party, the support rate was highest for Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, followed by opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), which boosted its presence in the House of Councillors in the July 10 election for the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament.

Of the respondents supporting the cabinet, with multiple answers allowed, 18.3 pct said other than Kishida there was no one suitable to be prime minister at the moment, 12.7 pct said they trusted Kishida, and 12.6 pct said they had a favorable impression of him.

Of those disapproving of the cabinet, 10.3 pct said they could expect nothing from the Kishida administration, and 5.8 pct each said that its policies were bad and that Kishida has no leadership skills.

The survey also showed that the proportion of respondents critical of the cabinet’s measures against soaring prices rose 2.4 points to56.5 pct, up for the third straight month since May, when the survey started seeking opinions about the government’s responses to rising prices.

 The share of respondents supporting the measures rose 2.5 points to 16.3 pct, and that of those who answered neither or said they did not know fell 5.0 points to 27.2 pct.

In the survey, the support rate stood at 26.5 pct for the LDP, down 0.7 point, 4.5 pct for Nippon Ishin, up 1.4 points, and 4.1 pct for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, up 0.2 point. Nippon Ishin captured the second spot for the first time since April.

The support rate came to 3.8 pct for Komeito, the LDP’s coalition partner, 1.9 pct for the Democratic Party for the People, 1.6 pct for Reiwa Shinsengumi, 1.3 pct each for the Japanese Communist Party and Sanseito, 0.5 pct for the Social Democratic Party and 0.2 pctfor NHK Party, which is critical of public broadcaster NHK, or Japan Broadcasting Corp.

The proportion of respondents with no favorite party totaled 51.6 pct. The interview-based survey covered 2,000 people aged 18 or over across the country. Valid responses came from 61.2 pct.

JIJI Press