Majority of Japanese Voters Oppose Abe's Term Extension... Hope Next Prime Minister Takes a Different Path from Abe

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] A survey released on the 28th revealed that more than 60% of Japanese voters oppose the extension of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's term. More than half of the respondents also expressed a preference for the next prime minister to take a different course from the Abe Cabinet.

In a postal opinion poll on political awareness conducted by Asahi Shimbun from March to April among 3,000 Japanese voters, 66% of respondents opposed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) changing its party rules to allow Prime Minister Abe, who is currently serving his third consecutive term as LDP president, to serve one more term. Support stood at only 26%.

In Japan, which adopts a parliamentary cabinet system, the prime minister must be the president of the ruling party. Prime Minister Abe's term as LDP president runs until September next year, so changing the party rules means extending Abe's term. Opposition within the LDP support base was 46%, close to the 48% in favor, while among independents, opposition was high at 73%.

More than half of the voters expressed a desire for the next prime minister to take a different path from Abe. 57% of respondents said it would be better if the next prime minister did not inherit Abe administration’s policies. Those who wished for continuation accounted for 34%, showing a gap of more than 20 percentage points.

The most important qualities voters wanted in the next prime minister were fairness and sincerity (40%), followed by leadership (22%), policy and ideology (20%), coordination ability (11%), and speaking ability (4%). Asahi analyzed that "the high emphasis on fairness and sincerity likely reflects the controversies surrounding Abe, such as the Moritomo Gakuen and Kake Gakuen scandals, which are so-called private school corruption issues, and suspicions of private use of the government event 'Cherry Blossom Viewing Party.'"

The most suitable candidate for the next prime minister was former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba (24%), followed by Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Shinjiro Koizumi (13%) and Foreign Minister Taro Kono (7%). The proportions of respondents who chose LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Fumio Kishida, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and Constitutional Democratic Party leader Yukio Edano were each 6%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.