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Japan's new ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leader Yukio Hatoyama bows after being elected as Japan's new prime minister - Source: Reuters -
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Support for Japan's governing party has more than halved since it took power six months ago according to a new poll, in a further sign of trouble for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama ahead of an election expected in July.
Hatoyama's Democratic Party swept to power on September 16 after a historic win in an election for parliament's powerful lower house, but since then voter support has slid to 32% from initial highs above 70%, the Asahi newspaper says.
It was down from 37% from the previous month.
The disapproval rate has risen to 47% from 14% last September.
Other polls by domestic media have shown a similar trend as doubts persist over Hatoyama's leadership and ability to make tough decisions on the economy and diplomacy, with voters increasingly disaffected by a series of funding scandals involving ruling party lawmakers.
The government has upgraded its view on the nation's economy for the first time in eight months, but deflation poses a risk and the ruling party's economic programmes have prompted investor concern over Japan's ballooning public debt.
"The tough reality of the fiscal health is holding them back. Their programmes looked good on paper, but they now realise how hard it is to actually implement steps," says Tomoaki Iwai, political science professor at Nihon University.
"For that, voters are willing to forgive the Democrats because they know you cannot do everything in several months. But they are distrustful of the Democrats due to the dirty aspect of politics and money," he adds, referring to a funding scandal embroiling the ruling party's powerful secretary-general.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told a news conference that the public would start feeling the impact of the government's efforts to boost the fragile economy once the budget for the next fiscal year, starting on April 1, was enacted.
"One assessment on falling voter support could be that the public has not been able to feel the impact of the change of government as they had hoped," Hirano says.
Despite the falling support rating, 67% in the Asahi survey say the change of government last year, which ended half a century of almost unbroken rule by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was good for Japan.
Weak opposition
The Democrats aim to secure an overall majority in the upper house so they can to pass bills smoothly without relying on two small coalition partners, but the survey showed 30% of just over 2,000 respondents said they would vote for the Democrats in the mid-year election for the upper house.
"Before, the chance of the Democrats winning a majority seemed certain, but that has changed since the problem of politics and money emerged," says Nihon University's Iwai.
But Iwai says voters will not simply go back to the LDP, either. The survey also showed only 21% would opt for the LDP.
Steven Reed, a Chuo University professor, says it was too soon to write off the Democrats' chances of winning an outright majority in the election given the disarray in the LDP.
"The basic thing is, you can't beat something with nothing," he says.
"Looking at support rates is well and good, but when voters walk into the polling booth, it's 'Here are your choices, pick one.'"
In a move that further fragments the national political scene ahead of the election, the prime minister's brother, Kunio Hatoyama who is himself a former cabinet minister, quit the LDP and plans to form a new party.
