TOKYO (Reuters) – Nearly half of Japanese voters believe Prime Minister Naoto Kan should quit soon, a poll by the Asahi newspaper showed Monday as Kan struggles with a divided parliament and feuding inside his own party.
Support for the Democratic Party-led government was only 20 percent, according to the poll, down from 26 percent in the newspaper's previous survey last month, weakening Kan's clout and hampering his efforts to carry out tax and social security reforms.
Voters are growing increasingly dissatisfied with Kan's handling of the economy, perceived missteps in diplomatic rows and a widening rift within the party over how to deal with powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, who has been charged in a funding scandal.
Kan, faced with the difficulty of passing budget bills through a hung parliament, has refused to rule out a snap election, but analysts said he was more likely to stay in his job for now and pressure the opposition to do a deal.
The government has begun warning opposition parties not to risk hurting a nascent economic recovery or upsetting financial markets by failing to enact bills needed to implement a $1-trillion budget for the year from April 1.
"We're approaching the critical stage where we can bring the economy on to a path toward a fully fledged recovery through passage of the budget (for the fiscal year from April 1)," Kan told a parliamentary committee.
The Asahi poll showed almost half those surveyed believe Kan does not need to call an immediate general election, but in another survey by the Mainichi daily, 60 percent of respondents called for an early election.
The Mainichi poll showed support for the Kan government has fallen to 19 percent, down from 29 percent in its January survey.
Some analysts said Kan might cling to his post for now but could be forced to quit once nationwide local elections in April are over and opposition parties become more flexible about deal-making.
source: mb.com.ph
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