TOKYO, October 2. /TASS/. The level of support for the new Japanese government, headed by Shigeru Ishiba, reaches 50.7%, according to the results of a public opinion poll carried out by the Kyodo news agency.

The level of government approval at the start of work in Japan is traditionally high. At the same time, in October 2021, when former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came to power, the level of support stood at 55.7%, in September 2020 under Yoshihide Suga - 66.4%, in December 2012 under Shinzo Abe - 62%. In the last months of Ishiba’s predecessor as prime minister, Kishida, the government’s rating dropped to 26.1%.

However, the level of disapproval of Ishiba’s cabinet is estimated at 28.9%. Some 73% of respondents believe that his coming to power will not solve the problem of financial irregularities in politics, which caused the previous government's ratings to fall.

The new head of the government has already announced the dissolution of the lower house of parliament on October 9 for early elections on October 27. This decision provoked sharp criticism from the opposition, which called this step, without a re-investigation of financial irregularities in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), an attempt to "cover up something stinking".

More than three weeks before the elections, 38.4% of respondents expressed support for the LDP. The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party was supported by 16.5% of respondents. The agency does not provide data on the number of respondents.