As the government finalizes plans to submit an economic stimulus package in the upcoming session of parliament, popular support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has nosedived, opinion polls have shown in recent days.
A Kyodo News survey carried out over the weekend found a significant drop in the Cabinet’s approval rating, which fell 7.5 percentage points from last month to 32.3% — the lowest figure since Kishida took office two years ago. Its disapproval rating, meanwhile, reached an all-time high of 52.5%.
The government’s popularity also hit a record low in three other surveys conducted over the same period by the Mainichi Shimbun, the Asahi Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun dailies, in which the Cabinet's approval ratings were 25%, 29% and 34%, respectively. While the Mainichi and Yomiuri polls saw the rates largely unchanged, the Asahi results found a significant drop of 8 percentage points.