Photo/Illutration The Ishiba Cabinet includes two women: Junko Mihara, second from left in third row, minister for policies related to children, and education minister Toshiko Abe, second from right in second row. (Naoko Kawamura)

Thirty-three percent of voters said they support the Ishiba Cabinet, compared with the 39 percent who do not support it, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed, noticeably lower than the support rate for the previous Kishida Cabinet in 2021. 

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said he will release “new economic policies” in a speech on Oct. 15, when official campaigning started for the Oct. 27 Lower House election.

According to the nationwide telephone survey conducted on Oct. 19-20, 53 percent of respondents said they do not have high expectations for Ishiba’s economic policies, below the 24 percent who said they have high expectations.

The Asahi Shimbun conducted a survey at a similar juncture before the previous Lower House election in 2021, soon after Fumio Kishida became prime minister.

In that survey, 42 percent of voters said they supported the Kishida Cabinet, more than the 31 percent who said they did not support it, and 45 percent of respondents said they did not have high expectations for Kishida’s economic policies.

In the latest survey, taken only weeks after Ishiba took office on Oct. 1, respondents were asked which party they would vote for in the proportional portion of the Lower House election.

Twenty-eight percent of voters who do not support the Ishiba Cabinet chose the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Eleven percent selected the Democratic Party for the People, and 10 percent picked Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party).

Even among voters who do not support the Ishiba Cabinet, 22 percent said they would vote for the LDP.

Meanwhile, 30 percent of voters who said they do not have high expectations for Ishiba’s economic policies said they would vote for the LDP in the proportional representation portion.

The CDP was chosen by 25 percent of those respondents, while Nippon Ishin and the DPP were selected by 9 percent each.

Sixty-three percent of voters who support the Ishiba Cabinet and 61 percent of voters who have high expectations for Ishiba’s economic policies said they would vote for the LDP.

Thirty-two percent of voters said they are greatly interested in the Oct. 27 election, and 66 percent said they will definitely go to the polls.

Both figures are at low levels, compared with results of similar surveys between 2005 and 2021, although simple comparisons are difficult due to different survey methods and targets.

In the survey before the 2021 Lower House election, 32 percent of respondents, the same percentage as this year, said they were greatly interested in the ballot. 

Sixty-eight percent, or two points higher than this year, said they would definitely cast their votes.

In that election, voter turnout in single-seat constituencies was 55.93 percent.

The ratio of voters who said they will definitely go to the polls this year was higher in upper age brackets and lower in lower age brackets.

Seventy-nine percent of respondents in their 70s or older and 76 percent of those in their 60s said they will cast their votes, compared with 53 percent of those in their 30s and 39 percent of those between ages 18 and 29.

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