The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted a nationwide poll on public opinion on Monday and Tuesday, and the results show that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s administration has seen a significant decline in support. This is because the government and ruling parties are becoming increasingly alarmed, and the people’s anger over the politics and money issue has not subsided.

Ishiba, who is also president of the Liberal Democratic Party, is trying to work with opposition parties on a budget and other issues as the ruling parties become a minority in the House of Representatives. However, there are no clear opportunities to reduce the government’s operational instability.

 

The LDP’s poor handling of the political funds scandal was the primary cause of the sudden drop in Cabinet approval. The opinion poll confirmed that there was still strong opposition to the LDP providing its unendorsed local chapters with the same amount of money as the candidates running on the official party ticket in the lower house election on Oct. 27: 20 million.

The ruling parties lost their majority in the lower house due to a discrepancy between their response to the politics and money issue and the people’s desire for a tough response. There is a general sense of regret within the LDP, with some members saying things like: Our 20 million-dollar issue came to light, and it appears that this is the reason we lost 15 to 20 seats. Perhaps we could have maintained a small majority without that.”

Following the humiliating defeat of the ruling parties in the lower house election on Monday, Ishiba announced his intention to eliminate the political activity funds paid to individual Diet members by political parties.

The LDP’s position on these political activity funds was only that they would ensure transparency “with a view to future abolition” in campaign speeches for the most recent election. However, the LDP appears to have been forced to alter this position as a result of the election results.