TOKYO, Oct 18 (Reuters) – The approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration fell below 50% to its lowest level since she took office in October last year, Kyodo News Agency reported on Sunday.
In a poll conducted between October 17 and 18, the approval rating for Takaichi’s administration was 49.1%, the report said.
The decline might have been affected by Takaichi’s slow response surrounding the resignation of Kazuo Yana as the nation’s farm minister, the report said.
Yana stepped down from the post on Wednesday after coming under fire for remarks about cutting road funding for municipalities that did not support him.
Some 57.7% of respondents said Takaichi’s decision to replace him came “too late,” Kyodo said, while 81.5% said it was natural for Yana to resign.
Takaichi appointed Yana in a cabinet reshuffle last month, but had openly chided him in parliament for the remarks over the road funding, which local media first reported earlier this month.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
