Asia

Public Support for Abe’s Cabinet Slightly Rises to 38.9% Despite Scandals – Poll

TOKYO (Sputnik) - The level of public support for the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe grew by 1.9 percent to 38.9 percent in comparison to last month's level despite scandals around the government, a poll conducted by the Kyodo news agency showed on Sunday.
Sputnik

At the same time, the cabinet’s disapproval rate decreased to 50.3 percent from 52.6 percent in April’s survey.

The public support for Abe and his cabinet dropped over the recent months amid allegations of cronyism waived against Abe over his alleged support of the Kake Gakuen veterinary school project linked to his close friend Kotaro Kake, as well providing a discount to a school operator for purchasing publicly-owned land for a school construction.

Particularly, April’s survey by the Japanese NHK broadcaster showed that the support level for Abe’s cabinet dropped by 6 percent to 38 percent.

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The scandals around Abe’s government also resulted in decreasing popularity of the Japanese ruling Liberal Democrat Party, prompting Abe to dissolve the parliament and call a snap election in autumn 2017.

Nevertheless, in October, Abe's ruling coalition saw a landslide victory in the snap vote, winning a majority in the 465-seat Japanese parliament.

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