Approval rate for Aso cabinet below 20%; nearly half support Ozawa

Monday 12th January, 06:45 AM JST

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Statistician at 10:24 AM JST - 12th January

Let's hope Aso goes soon, this country desparately needs a change and the 'Obama Factor' looks like it it going to help make it happen.

But I guess the LDP will cling to power until the last possible moment, most politicians don't care about the damage they do.
Scrote at 10:53 AM JST - 12th January

I hope Aso clings on as long as possible, so that the LDP get wiped out in the next election.
Patrick Smash at 11:14 AM JST - 12th January

I don't understand how 19.2% of Japanese can approve of Aso's cabinet and so his performance. That means almost 1 in 5 believes he is doing something right. That's baffling. And only 46.4% would prefer Ozawa. That's amazing really. Less than 20% support Aso, but also less than half prefer his only opponent.
shouganaika at 11:28 AM JST - 12th January

hahaha on a par with Mori, that's not good. I wish Aso could understand the concept of embarrassment but unfortunately his arrogance won't allow it
realist at 11:33 AM JST - 12th January

Why doesnt Aso just go, and go now! Japan has needed a change of government for decades. The LDP/Soka Gakkai Alliance must be kicked out.
cow76 at 12:17 PM JST - 12th January

Scrote is right. If Aso hangs around long enough the LDP will end up with very few seats after the next election and will have to rebuild itself into a competely different and hopefully less corrupt/faction ridden party. Maybe they might even consider a leader whose credentials aren't merely being the idiot son/grandson/nephew of a long-forgotten PM (who was probably also an idiot).
ptolemy at 12:27 PM JST - 12th January

Agreed, the longer he clings to power is more time for him to expose himself as the true Aso he is. Personally, I enjoy all the gaffes, it makes for hilarity. However all fun things must end, and I can tell you Aso is going to cling to his office as long as can, I expect no election before the required September deadline, even then, I wonder if the LDP will push a Constitutional change to cling longer. Like citing a "Public Emergency" because of the economy. I wouldn't put it past them.
bamboohat at 12:42 PM JST - 12th January

I suspect that this data needs to be corrected for the "placebo effect" like when they do blind studies, they need to figure out how well a drug does over and above what a sugar pill would do. So this twenty percent is about what you'd expect if, say, a kangaroo was in office. There are some folks out there who would say "yea, the PM is doing a good job" regardless of what is happening around them. So when you figure the kangaroo placebo into the equation, I suspect his real approval rate is closer to 3%.
presto345 at 01:04 PM JST - 12th January

The flip-flopping public. People can't make up their minds about who they are going to vote for or support.
Betting at 09:04 PM JST - 12th January

"I don't understand how 19.2% of Japanese can approve of Aso's cabinet and so his performance. That means almost 1 in 5 believes he is doing something right. That's baffling. And only 46.4% would prefer Ozawa. That's amazing really. Less than 20% support Aso, but also less than half prefer his only opponent".

I think they are just picking the lesser evil of the two. And anyway, since there is only two realistic choices for the office of PM, but neither of them the best for position (Ozawa doesn't go down well with a lot of people I think due to some of his past actions), there is no chance of getting an overwhelming majority.
usaexpat at 12:30 AM JST - 13th January

Ozawa won't be able to make anything any better. The culture of government needs to change and swapping the LDP for the DPJ is just a change in name only.
Shumatsu_Samurai at 05:23 AM JST - 13th January

I agree with usaexpat. Unfortunately Japanese voters have no real choice and voting for the DPJ probably won't make things any better. All they can hope is that the result of either party losing is that politics is reshaped and both the LDP and DPJ fracture to allow the formation of a new party.
Simon_Foston at 08:36 AM JST - 13th January

All they can hope is that the result of either party losing is that politics is reshaped and both the LDP and DPJ fracture to allow the formation of a new party.

I think a break-up of the LDP is virtually inevitable. What happens to the DPJ depends on whether they win the next election and if so, how big a majority they get.
taikan at 02:43 AM JST - 14th January

As much fun as it is to criticize the LDP, Aso and the Japanese government bureaucracy, it should be remembered that while the LDP has been in power Japan has gone from a country with very little industrial base and widespread food shortages (to the point of famine) after American bombing during the war, to the second largest economy in the world. That doesn't mean the LDP or the bureaucracy deserve all or even most of the credit, but at least they didn't overly obstruct those whose efforts brought about that economic growth.
illsayit at 03:08 PM JST - 18th January

What rubbish! His ratings are growing.

Why introduce another party? To cover-up some mistakes of parties already there? No they need to do what they are doing, break it down, and talk it out. Not run away.