Support rate for Japan's Kishida cabinet hits fresh low: poll

TOKYO - The support rate for the cabinet led by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dropped to 16.6 pct in April, marking a new low for the administration, according to the latest Jiji Press opinion poll.

The approval rate dropped by 1.4 percentage points from the previous month, a fresh low for the administration since its launch in October 2021, while the disapproval rate climbed 2.0 percentage points to 59.4 percent, the survey showed Thursday.

The reading breached the previous low of 16.9 percent marked in February, sinking to the worst level since the return of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power in December 2012, Jiji Press said.

Punishments announced last week by the LDP, headed by Kishida, for senior members of party factions involved in a slush funds scandal failed to lead to a rebound in cabinet support, it added.

In the latest poll, support rate for the LDP fell 2.4 points to 15.3 percent.