Approval rate for Abe's cabinet falls to 36%: poll

FarmboyToday  04:16 am JST

I think the Abe administation equals Abe. I think the cabinet is without Abe. People think of Abe more positively than negatively. They think of the cabinet negatively. Some of the references, however, need more explanation, in my opinion. It is not always clear what is being compared with what.

An understandable point of view, except that apart from that 49.6% statistic there isn't much indication that people actually do think of Abe positively. The only vaguely positive comment I ever read about him is "there's no other alternative" and that looks like damning with faint praise to me.

Also, since people vote for the party, not the prime minister, it is all irrelevant, simply because there is only one party that will be in power in the foreseeable future, and there are not, in my opinion, any better alternatives to Abe.

I don't really see why, to be honest. There are leadership contenders in the LDP who have had several years experience of cabinet-level government and don't appear to be out-and-out incompetents. Abe was only chief cabinet secretary for a few months and all he managed to do was lose elections and censor NHK documentaries.

36%? I mean I’m no expert in Japanese politics, it seems to me that’s quite low.

And for those of you who are saying that this would result in any change, I’ll remind you of two times were the liberal democratic party did get ousted from power. The first one was in ‘93, granted it was only for about a year or so. And in 2009 for like 3 to 4 years. In other words, it can be done because it has been done.

B. JayToday  06:43 pm JST

Abe must step down or step up to the plate to govern. 

I think his idea of governing is exchanging kickbacks with rich, influential good old boys like himself so he and his party can stay in power.

FarmboyToday  01:24 pm JST

36% is for the cabinet. 49% is for Abe. 

The article refers to the Abe administration. Isn't that usually another way of referring to the government led by a president or prime minister? In any case it's odd. The approval rate falls from 38.8% to 36.0%, the disapproval rate rises from 48.5% to 49.1%, yet there's this mysterious 49.6% of respondents who feel positive about the Abe administration for unspecified reasons. Why should that be?

Abe must step down or step up to the plate to govern. He is missing in action.

democracy = two party system. Which two parties is determined by connections, funding, family relations, lobbyists, outside influences and pulling the wool over citizens faces.

even if Abe has 15%, under the rules of democracy, if your opposition is a bunch of useless unorganized juveniles, the ruling party will live on forever.

I am surprised Abe and his cretinous cronies like Mori, Sakurada and Aso have any support beyond their immediate circle.

And opposition leader Taro Yamamoto has a progressive platform in line with many social democracies (green new deal, UBI) that I am surprised doesn't get more support from the beleaguered Japanese populace. Chalk it up to the uninquisitive bought and paid for dinosaur media.

The approval rate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet stands at 36.0 percent

This tells me that 36% are still to see the light.

Hit the road jack!....

Lower house dissolve to hold general election would be better. While opposition parties have been divided to small groups (tried unite again though )

If one opposition party (or parties united ) had clearer policy,

Liberal Democratic Party would be more forced to dissolve lower house earlier.

Asked about Abe's long-running administration, 43.9 percent said it had more negative aspects than positive ones, while 49.6 percent answered the other way around.

In other words, 49.6 said it had more positive aspects than negative aspects.

I am also surprised that it is so high.

Abe is probably getting some sympathy votes from some people, because of being sick and what not.

A low approval rating means nothing in Japanese politics today.Abe has proven that.

It's not low in Japanese politics, when it hits in the 20%s THEN watch things start to happen!

It doesn’t really mean anything. Most of those polled won’t even vote. There’ll still be enough die-hard LDP fans in the 50% of the adult population who vote to ensure the LDP remains in power for another 70 years.

Agree with all of the above. I'm actually surprised that its at 36%. I would have expected it to be much lower than that.

I think it's much lower than that.

Opposition in Japan in incredibly weak. I follow many of them on Twitter, and im always amazed at the fact that they talk about issues that are very low on the average person's priority list. They never talk about reforms in the judicial system, the economy and the electoral system itself. They seem completely out of touch with the real issues of this country.

Democracy is not just about voting. Protection of civil liberties, regional government and local self-rule, fair elections and good judicial system are key pillars of democracy.

Anyone who purports to care about Japan should first start by reforming the electoral system so people can have real and fair elections, and not the rigged ones of today, in which opposition parties have little chance of winning due to financial centralization and election laws that favor the main party. The second badly needed reform is to decentralize the central government and empower the regional Prefectural government. People would be more involved in politics if the issues they cared about could be decided by their own local government.

Abe did make some reforms, such as water privatization, he also cut some govt. spending, and opened up the country to more immigration. But he is too obsessed with his constitutional reforms and rearming the country, and is less interested in doing other needed reforms.

Bye, Shinzo!

Only 36%?