Disapproval rate of Kishida cabinet rises

TOKYO: The disapproval rate of the Japanese government headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reached 50 per cent for the first time since last December, an opinion poll showed on Sunday.

The approval rate for the cabinet remained low at 33.6 per cent, according to the nationwide survey conducted via telephone by the national news agency Kyodo News from Saturday to Sunday, citing public concerns over the national identification card system and soaring prices, Xinhua news agency reported. The support rate has declined in recent months and is now only a tad higher than the lowest level since Kishida took office in October 2021, which was 33.1 per cent logged in November and December 2022, Kyodo News reported.

Some 79.8 per cent of those surveyed lacked faith in Kishida's ability to allay public angst over the "My Number" identification card system, which has experienced a number of personal information leaks and registration errors. A total of 88.1 per cent also expressed concerns over the government's plan to discharge treated radioactive wastewater from the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, according to the survey. Despite raging opposition both from home and abroad, the Japanese government is counting down on the controversial ocean discharge.

On Sunday, Kishida visited the wastewater treatment facility at the crippled plant in Fukushima to discuss the starting date of the nuclear wastewater discharge, local media reported. The specific discharge date is expected to fall between the end of August and early September, according to government sources. IANS

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