Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso’s popularity has hit a new low three months after taking office, as he continues to reject demands for a snap election, according to opinion polls published yesterday.
A survey in the influential Asahi Shimbun showed his government’s approval rating at 19 percent, down from 22 percent last month and 48 percent in late September when he took power in the world’s second-largest economy.
His disapproval rating rose to a high of 67 percent, up three points from last month, according to the weekend telephone poll which drew valid responses from 2,138 voters.
Aso took office following a leadership election in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan for most of the past half century.
His main task is to lead the conservative party through a general election which must be held by September.
TOUGH BATTLE
Experts say the LDP faces a tough battle if it hopes to win a lower house election, with the resurgent opposition already in control of the upper house after an election in mid-2007.
Aso, under fire for a series of verbal blunders, has also failed to impress voters with his economic measures, despite his pledge to put “policies before politics.”
However he has surprised ruling and opposition blocs by clinging to power amid growing demands for a snap election.
Another telephone poll by the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun showed his government’s approval rating slipping to 20.4 percent, down half a point from last month.
Its disapproval rating was 72 percent, up six points. The Yomiuri poll was based on responses from 1,056 voters.
Aso is the third prime minister from the LDP to take charge in little over two years.
GOVERNMENT PLAN
His government’s plan to hand out a total of ¥2 trillion (US$22 billion) — ¥12,000 per person — to bolster consumption has been criticized by the opposition as a bait for votes.
The Asahi poll showed 63 percent of those questioned were against the cash handout, and three in four believed that it was “ineffective” as an economic measure.
In the Yomiuri vote, 78 percent were against the plan.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
RSS