Takaichi Cabinet Approval Plunges 10 Points After Early Election Decision

A recent survey found that the approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet dropped by 10 percentage points following the decision to hold an early House of Representatives election (general election).

On January 25, the Mainichi Shimbun reported that a public opinion poll conducted over two days starting the previous day, targeting 2,048 people, showed the approval rating for the Takaichi cabinet at 57%. In previous surveys by the same newspaper, the Takaichi cabinet's approval rating had remained between 65% and 67% until last month, marking a decline of about 10 percentage points.

Yonhap News Agency

This is seen as a result of Prime Minister Takaichi's decision to call an early general election. On January 23, Prime Minister Takaichi dissolved the House of Representatives and is scheduled to hold the early general election on February 8. In this survey, only 27% of respondents viewed Prime Minister Takaichi's dissolution of the House positively, while 41% said they did not approve, meaning negative assessments far outnumbered positive ones.

Expectations were also low for the new party "Centrist Reform Alliance," a coalition formed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party and the third-largest party Komeito ahead of the early general election. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they did not have expectations for the new party, compared to 17% who said they did.

As for party support rates, the Liberal Democratic Party led with 27%, followed by the Centrist Reform Alliance at 12%, the Democratic Party for the People at 7%, and both the Japan Innovation Party and the Sanseito at 4% each.