There seems to be no end to the declining approval rating of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet. The achievements of the recent Japan-U.S. summit meeting were wiped out by a series of blunders, failing to bring about a shift in the current plight of the administration as Abe had hoped.
Diet deliberations have stalled due to resistance from opposition parties, making management of the administration increasingly difficult.
Speaking at a meeting to discuss the abduction issue in Tokyo on Sunday, Abe emphasized the achievements made at the Japan-U.S. summit meeting.
"U.S. President Donald Trump promised me he would raise the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea during a planned U.S.-North Korea summit meeting and do his best," Abe said.
In March, issues involving school operator Moritomo Gakuen, the Kake Educational Institution and the Defense Ministry's handling of daily activity logs came to light. The prime minister has been buffeted by headwinds in the wake of these revelations.
Some within the government were hoping the stage would be set for Abe's diplomatic skills to shine in recent talks with Trump, a planned meeting with the Chinese and South Korean leaders, and a Japan-Russia summit meeting in May, boosting the popularity of the administration, according to government sources.
"The situation will change in April," Abe himself also told people around him, according to sources.
However, at the time of his visit to the United States, Administrative Vice Finance Minister Junichi Fukuda announced his intention to resign over alleged sexual harassment reported by the Shukan Shincho weekly magazine.
Abe produced some results during his visit to the United States, such as winning cooperation from Trump in dealing with North Korea.
However, as a government source said, Fukuda's announcement to step down was covered more heavily by the media than the prime minister's diplomatic achievements. As a result, public opinion has remained unchanged toward Abe's Cabinet.
In addition, Abe, who maintains that the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement is the best option, failed to reach an agreement in talks with Trump, who is insisting on bilateral negotiations. Tokyo expected Washington to exempt Japan from the import restrictions imposed on steel and aluminum, but the two countries only agreed to continue discussing the matter.
In the latest nationwide survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun, the percentage of respondents who evaluated the Japan-U.S. summit meeting positively and negatively were very close.
A former minister said, "Unless there are tangible achievements, diplomatic efforts are not that easily evaluated [by the public]."
There seems to be no end in sight to the series of scandals and allegations.
Fukuda has expressed his intention to resign, but the opposition parties are calling for the resignation of Finance Minister Taro Aso to take responsibility for issues including the Moritomo affair.
In the survey, about 50 percent of respondents said Aso should step down from his post.
"He sided with Mr. Fukuda, and his reaction worsened the situation surrounding the scandal," said a veteran Liberal Democratic Party member.
However, if Aso, who has been at the heart of the administration since the launch of Abe's second Cabinet, leaves, "the Abe Cabinet will immediately lose its balance," a senior LDP member said.
With such a view dominant within the LDP, the prime minister remains unchanged in his stance to keep Aso in his post.
With the opposition parties maintaining a do-or-die stance of resistance, it appears more difficult to conceive that a bill geared toward work style reform, which the prime minister has given top priority, will pass the Diet by the end of the current session.
Speaking about the declining approval rating, Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida said Sunday: "It illustrates the public's harsh judgment of the Cabinet and politics. We must take it seriously."
According to the latest poll, the support rating for the LDP remains at 37 percent, almost unchanged from 36 percent in the previous survey.
Former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba, who hopes to succeed Abe, said: "The approval rating for the LDP has not fallen. If the public is uncertain about the administration, as an LDP member, I have no choice but to make efforts to dispel their anxiety by saying what I should say to the government."
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