Approval rate for Aso`s Cabinet slips 6.1 points to 42.5%: Kyodo poll

TOKYO, Oct. 19 Kyodo - The approval rating for Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet stood at 42.5 percent in a telephone poll conducted by Kyodo News on Saturday and Sunday, down 6.1 points from the previous poll in September, while disapproval grew by the same
margin to 39 percent.

Asked which political party they would vote for in the proportional
representation block if a general election is called, 35.9 percent cited the
main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, outpacing Aso's Liberal Democratic
Party, which scored 32.7 percent.
While Aso has been saying that he is keen on devising economic stimulus
measures to fight the global credit crisis, rather than calling a general
election, the largest percentage of voters who disapprove of his Cabinet said
they ''cannot hope for much from (his Cabinet's) economic policies.''
A majority of voters -- 56.2 percent -- also expressed opposition to debt
issues to finance a supplementary budget that the government is eyeing to be
larger than the extra budget just approved by parliament on Thursday. Those who
endorsed issuing deficit-financing bonds came to 24.2 percent.
On a desirable form of government, the largest percentage of 43 percent of the
respondents said they prefer one led by the DPJ followed by 38.3 percent who
cited one centering on the LDP. The results were the same as in the previous
month's poll.
Asked when an election should be held for the House of Representatives, the
largest segment of respondents, or 31.6 percent, said it should be held in
November.
They were followed by 29.8 percent who favored ''around spring'' after the
government budget for next fiscal year is passed, while 26.6 percent said it
should be held when the current term of the lower house expires in September.
Support by political party stood at 36.2 percent, down 0.8 point, for the LDP,
while the DPJ also lost ground, by 1.5 points, to 26.8 percent.
The New Komeito party scored 4.7 percent in support, the Japanese Communist
Party got 2.7 percent; the Social Democratic Party won 1.1 percent, the
People's New Party scored 0.4 percent, and New Party Nippon and Kaikaku Kurabu
each received 0.1 percent.
Those who said they support no political parties grew 1.3 points to 24.4 percent.
A total of 1,030 people responded to the latest Kyodo News survey.
==Kyodo