The approval rate of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet plummeted after the Lower House election, but more than 60 percent of voters believe he should not resign, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.

The rate was 34 percent, a sharp drop from 46 percent in an Oct. 1-2 survey conducted just after the Ishiba Cabinet was formed.

The disapproval rate rose from 30 percent to 47 percent.

The Asahi Shimbun conducted the latest nationwide telephone survey on Nov. 2 and 3, following the Oct. 27 election in which Ishiba’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, lost control of the Lower House.

The Ishiba administration was less than a month old before the election was held. It is unusual to see a large drop in a Cabinet’s approval rate in such a short period of time.

When asked whether Ishiba can be trusted based on his words and actions before and after the Lower House election, 51 percent of respondents said the prime minister is “not trustworthy,” while 26 percent said he is “trustworthy.”

Among those who said “not trustworthy,” the Cabinet disapproval rate was 75 percent.

Nevertheless, only 24 percent of all respondents said Ishiba “should resign” following the election, while 61 percent said there is “no need” for him to step down.

The survey showed that 64 percent of respondents felt it was “good” that the coalition lost its majority in the Diet chamber, far exceeding the 22 percent who said the election results were “not good.”

Even among LDP supporters and those who said they voted for either the LDP or Komeito in the proportional representation part of the election, 40 percent said the loss of the coalition’s majority was “good.”

When asked whether the LDP’s funding scandal was a major reason for the coalition’s election losses, 82 percent said they “think so,” while 12 percent said they “don’t think so.”

Among those who support the LDP, 83 percent said they “think so.”

As for the future framework of the government, 43 percent said they prefer the continuation of an LDP-centered government, while 32 percent said they would prefer an administration led by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

In the previous survey, 48 percent preferred an LDP-centered government and 23 percent preferred a CDP-centered government.

The Democratic Party for the People made significant gains in the election and now finds itself being “courted” by both the ruling and opposition blocs.

Sixty-three percent of survey respondents were in favor of talks among the LDP, Komeito and the DPP over the budgetary matters and reforms of the taxation system, while 23 percent opposed these discussions.

Among those who voted for the ruling parties in the proportional representation system, 90 percent said they are in favor of these talks.

Fifty-three percent of those who voted for opposition parties in the election supported the talks, while 38 percent were opposed.

Among DPP supporters, 80 percent said they are in favor.

Regarding the DPP’s potential partners in cooperation, 33 percent of survey respondents said the DPP should focus on the ruling parties, while 42 percent cited the opposition parties.

Among CDP supporters, 84 percent said the DPP “should focus on cooperation with opposition parties.”

But among DPP supporters, 30 percent picked cooperation with the ruling parties and 50 percent choose cooperation with opposition parties.

Among unaffiliated voters, who account for nearly 40 percent of the total, 24 percent said the DPP should cooperate with the ruling parties, while 38 percent choose the opposition parties.

But 38 percent of them did not answer or chose “other” for the question.

The survey was conducted on voters nationwide on Nov. 2 and 3, using the RDD method, in which computer-generated phone numbers were randomly generated and surveyors called landline and cellphone numbers.

A total of 980 valid responses were received.

For landlines, 357 people out of 829 households that were identified as having a voter responded. The response rate was 43 percent.

For cellphones, 623 people out of 1,669 calls responded. The response rate was 37 percent.