Japan's ruling party is in crisis

The newspaper Mainichi has polled approval of the Japanese government regularly since July 1947.

During that time the country has had 34 prime ministers, including plenty of forgettable faces and reviled figures.

But according to the newspaper’s surveys none has been more unpopular than Japan’s current leader, Kishida Fumio. In December disapproval of his administration reached a record high of 79%, up from under 50% in June.

This historic nadir comes as Mr Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party (ldp), which has held power almost continuously ever since its formation in 1955, faces its biggest financial scandal in decades.

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet in an attempt to contain a funding scandal that threatens the future of his struggling government.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Kishida, has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that three of its factions, including the one he led until December, failed to report portions of its revenues from fundraising parties and created slush funds to distribute the proceeds to members.

Prosecutors have indicted or issued summary indictments for 10 individuals belonging to the three groups. However, executives of the factions have not faced criminal charges due to a lack of evidence.

Some 83.4 per cent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of criminal charges against the executives.

Japan’s ruling LDP scandals weigh on support for PM Fumio Kishida’s cabinet

Published: 8:52pm, 4 Feb, 2024

Support for PM Kishida’s cabinet fell to its second-lowest level ever, with most people unhappy over the ruling LDP’s political funds scandal
Survey also suggests Kishida is far from regaining the public’s trust, as most respondents do not accept his efforts on party reforms

South China Morning Post

7 hours ago

Japan's ruling LDP scandals weigh on support for PM Fumio Kishida's cabinet | South China Morning Post

The support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s cabinet fell 2.8 percentage points to 24.5 per cent, marking its second-lowest rating, a Kyodo News survey showed on Sunday, with most respondents indicating discontent with his fact-finding efforts regarding the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s political funds scandal.

Some 84.9 per cent said LDP lawmakers who failed to report income from fundraising parties should explain what they used the funds for, while 87 per cent expect the party’s reform proposals drawn up in an interim report will not help the LDP restore public trust.

The approval rating of the Kishida cabinet hit an all-time low in December last year at 22.3 per cent, wavering in the 20 per cent range for the past four polls, including the previous survey last month.

The disapproval rating rose by 1.4 points from the previous poll to 58.9 per cent. . .