As Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba faces mounting pressure to resign from the Liberal Democratic Party following his party's defeat in last month's House of Councillors election, a recent poll has found that about half of the Japanese public supports the continuation of the Ishiba administration.
NHK reported on the 12th that, according to a public opinion survey conducted from August 9 to 11 with 1,137 respondents, 49% supported Prime Minister Ishiba's intention to remain in office. By contrast, 40% were opposed. Among Liberal Democratic Party supporters, 69% favored the continuation of the Ishiba administration.
Support for Ishiba by age group was lowest among those aged 18 to 39 at 27%, and highest among those aged 80 and above at 63%. In this survey, the approval rating for the Ishiba Cabinet rose by 7 percentage points from the previous month to 38%. The percentage of respondents who did not support the Cabinet fell by 8 percentage points to 45%.
Regarding the preferred form of government going forward, 44% favored maintaining the current coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, with cooperation from opposition parties on a policy-by-policy basis. Meanwhile, 26% preferred expanding the coalition to include some opposition parties. Only 18% supported a change of government led by the opposition parties.
As for the outcome of trade negotiations with the United States, 45% evaluated it positively, while 48% viewed it negatively.
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