Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters on Jan. 17 following the summary indictment of an accountant working for the Liberal Democratic Party’s parliamentary group in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly. (Takeshi Iwashita)

The approval rating of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet has slipped, and more than half of voters want an administration led by parties other than the Liberal Democratic Party, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.

The nationwide telephone survey conducted on Jan. 18 and 19 found Cabinet approval rating fell to 33 percent, down from 36 percent in the previous survey conducted last December.

The disapproval rating jumped to 51 percent from 43 percent.

Fifty-one percent of respondents favored a non-LDP administration, surpassing the 34 percent who preferred an LDP-led administration to continue governing Japan.

After Ishiba took office in October last year, his Cabinet’s approval rating was 46 percent. But it dropped to 34 percent in November and has since been hovering around that low level.

Support has been particularly weak among younger generations, with less than 20 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 and in their 30s approving the Cabinet in the latest survey.

During the previous administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in August last year, The Asahi Shimbun asked survey respondents which political party should be in charge of the next administration.

Opinions were closely divided, with 42 percent picking “the LDP” and 43 percent saying “a party other than the LDP.”

In the latest survey, even among those who approve of the Ishiba Cabinet, 33 percent of them chose “a party other than the LDP.”

Voters will be able to make their voices heard in an Upper House election expected in summer.

The survey asked respondents which party they would vote for in the proportional representation portion if an Upper House election were held now.

Twenty-five percent chose the LDP, followed by 15 percent each for the Democratic Party for the People and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

These two parties are now tied as the top choices in the opposition bloc. Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) was next, picked by 8 percent of respondents.

Twenty-one percent of all male respondents chose the DPP, compared with just 9 percent of female respondents.

Last October, when the Ishiba Cabinet was formed, The Asahi Shimbun asked a similar question about voters’ preferences in the proportional representation portion of a Lower House selection.

Thirty-six percent picked the LDP, followed by 16 percent for the CDP, 9 percent for Nippon Ishin and only 4 percent for the DPP.

The latest survey also asked respondents to select the positive and negative aspects of Ishiba from the same five options.

For negative aspects, 27 percent said “nothing in particular,” followed by 23 percent who cited his “leadership” and 19 percent mentioning his “image.”

As for positive aspects, 64 percent of respondents chose “nothing in particular.”

Only 20 percent of all respondents have high expectations for Ishiba’s economic policies, while 69 percent are skeptical of his plans.

The proportion of people who have low expectations for Ishiba’s economic policies has increased since last October.

Back then, 35 percent of respondents had positive expectations, while 47 percent were pessimistic.

Before the LDP lost its majority in the Oct. 27 Lower House election, the party was reeling over a scandal concerning unreported political funds by its factions.

Prosecutors this month exposed additional unreported political funding within the LDP’s parliamentary group in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly.

Sixty-four percent of respondents said their impression of the LDP had worsened since the prosecutors’ report, while 26 percent said it had not.

Even among LDP supporters, 50 percent said their impression had worsened.

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