"Japan Failed in COVID-19 Response"… Abe Ranks Last in Leadership Evaluation Among 6 Country Leaders

The Highest Rated Leader is Germany's Merkel... Trump Barely Escapes Last Place at 5th
Abe's Economic Policies Also Criticized... Highest Concerns of Unemployment and Bankruptcy Among 6 Countries

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was rated as the worst in responding to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in a survey conducted in six countries including Japan, the United States, and Europe.

On the 13th, Tokyo Shimbun reported that international consulting firm Kest CNC conducted a survey from the 10th to 15th of last month targeting about 1,000 people each in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and France, which produced these results. The survey quantified the difference between the proportion of respondents who answered that their national leader was responding well to COVID-19 and those who answered that they were not responding well.

Here, Prime Minister Abe recorded a minus (-) 34 percentage points, ranking last. Among the six national leaders, he received the harshest criticism from his citizens regarding COVID-19 response. U.S. President Donald Trump ranked 5th with -21 percentage points, narrowly avoiding last place.

The highest-rated leader was German Chancellor Angela Merkel with 42 percentage points, followed by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan L?fven (0 percentage points), French President Emmanuel Macron (-11 percentage points), and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (-12 percentage points).

The Abe administration also received harsh criticism on economic policy. In the five countries excluding Japan, the proportion of respondents who answered that "the government is providing necessary business support to companies well" ranged from 38% to 57%, but Japan was only 23%. Additionally, 38% of respondents answered that they were worried about possibly losing their jobs, and 36% were worried that their current company might go bankrupt, the highest among the six countries.

The Japanese government praised itself by citing that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in Japan was lower than in the United States or major European countries, but voters apparently evaluated the government’s response as poor. Kest CNC analyzed, "Strong dissatisfaction with the government’s business support is one of the causes leading to the negative evaluation of Prime Minister Abe."