Posted on 06/18/2009 1:39:59 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
Public support for Taro Aso, Japans prime minister, has fallen sharply since the high-profile resignation of his interior minister laid bare divisions in the ruling Liberal Democratic party.
A clutch of opinion polls published by domestic media in recent days suggest the opposition Democratic party of Japan is increasingly well placed to achieve what would be a historic victory over the LDP at a general election, to be held by October.
The polls, conducted after the departure last Friday of Kunio Hatoyama, showed marked falls in backing for Mr Aso, who had enjoyed a recovery in support as Japans recession-hit economy stabilised and the DPJ became mired in a funding scandal. For the first time in three months . . . the Aso cabinet is back in dangerous waters for the survival of the administration, said the Nikkei Shimbun business daily, which found support for the cabinet had fallen five points to 25 per cent since its poll in May.
Other polls put support for the cabinet at less than 20 per cent. Most suggested a large margin of voters believed Mr Aso had mishandled the cabinet dispute over Japans state-owned postal system that led to Mr Hatoyamas departure.
Mr Hatoyama stepped down after Mr Aso refused to back him in a dispute with Japan Post sparked by the state-owned companys abortive plans to sell a hotel chain to a leasing firm, a feud that divided the cabinet and inflamed differences between the LDPs conservative and reformist wings.
Mr Hatoyama had sought to block the reappointment of Japan Posts president, a stance the mass circulation Yomiuri Shimbun found was backed by 65 per cent of voters. The Mainichi daily reported that those who disapproved of Mr Asos decision to allow the president to stay on outnumbered those who backed him by three to one.
The opinion polls are certain to fuel gloom within the LDP, which alone or in coalition has ruled Japan for all but 11 months of the past five decades.
[I] stopped reading todays newspapers after seeing the headlines, Kyodo news agency quoted Kaoru Yosano, finance minister, as saying.
Mr Aso was further hit at the weekend by the defeat of an LDP-backed candidate in mayoral voting in the eastern city of Chiba by the DPJ-supported Toshihito Kumagai, who at 31 became Japans youngest mayor.
The DPJ tapped widespread dissatisfaction with the existing political order by promoting Mr Kumagai as young, with no experience in politics and no money.
Mr Aso could also be vulnerable to an unfolding scandal involving alleged official collusion in the abuse of concessionary postal rates for the handicapped, which has led to the arrest of a senior welfare ministry official. The official has reputedly denied any wrongdoing.
With voters citing a lack of leadership as the cabinets biggest problem, analysts say the LDP could seek to oust Mr Aso if the party performed poorly at the much-watched Tokyo municipal elections on July 12.
Opinion polls highlight the DPJs continuing failure to translate dissatisfaction with the LDP into widespread enthusiasm.
The Mainichi said 32 per cent of its respondents thought Yukio Hatoyama, the DPJ president, would be an appropriate choice for prime minister while only 15 per cent said the same of Mr Aso. However, 46 per cent responded that neither party leader was worthy of the premiership.
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