Questions over Hatoyama’s Leadership; Cabinet Support below 60%

Written By: guyjin on December 9, 2009 No Comment

A new Yomiuri poll conducted over the weekend had support for the Hatoyama Cabinet down 4 points in the last month, to 59%. This is still a relatively high level of support for a Japanese Prime Minister and his Cabinet, but support has been falling steadily since the election a few months ago.

Of those that do not support the Cabinet, 27% cited Hatoyama’s lack of leadership as their major reason, more than for any other reason. This has more than doubled, from 13% last month. The three major issues that seem to be hampering the Prime Minister are the difficulty in coming to a decision on the Futenma issue in Okinawa, continuing questions over the funds scandal that has dogged Hatoyama for several months, and the government’s handling of the economy.

On the Futenma issue, almost 60% of respondents want the government to continue with the agreement made in 2006 with the US, with little or no changes. Only 26% want major changes to the agreement to relocate the Futenma base to northern Okinawa. The DPJ got themselves into a real mess over this issue by promising prior to the election that they would review the deal. In fact, this was all that they promised to do – to review the deal.

There were no hard promises made about what their policy would actually be, but there was enough ambiguity in their Manifesto that critics of the US-Japan agreement were encouraged that a change may be possible. Added to this have been the outspoken views of the SDP, one of the Hatoyama government’s coalition partners. Hatoyama’s inability to resolve this issue quickly and decisively has led many to question his ability to keep control of the government, the coalition, and even his own Cabinet.

In another blow to Hatoyama, as many as 85% of respondents said that they are not satisfied with his explanations over the political donation scandal involving the Prime Minister’s own political office and a former secretary. The scandal has even expanded to potentially involve his mother, and his former secretary may yet be indicted over the issue. 54% of respondents in the Yomiuri poll said that Hatoyama need not resign if an indictment comes through for the former secretary, but 37% disagreed. If he is unable to get a handle on this issue soon, these numbers have the potential to become even more bleak.

Regarding the government’s handling of the economy, only 20% felt that the Cabinet have responded appropriately. This is likely to be a major problem going forward, unless the economy starts to turn around. Hatoyama and his Cabinet will certainly be hoping for much brighter economic news heading into the Upper House elections scheduled for next year.