Government support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has collapsed, battered by questions about the ruling party’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its ties to the Unification Church.
Ties to the church, founded in South Korea in the 1950s and famous for its mass marriages, have become a headache for Kishida since July 8, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead. of firearm.
Abe’s alleged killer said his mother was bankrupt by the church and accused the former prime minister of promoting her.
According to a poll conducted over the weekend by the newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, Kishida’s support fell to 36% from 52% a month ago, the lowest level since he took office last October.
Those who thought that the links between the Unification Church and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Kishida were “an extreme problem” or “something of a problem” reached 87%.
Only 4% thought it wasn’t a problem at all.
Kishida shuffled his cabinet on August 10 and removed some cabinet members with church ties in an effort to build support, but 68% of respondents said they disagreed with the move, compared to just 16. % who did it.
Meanwhile, new cases of COVID-19 remain consistently high, prompting 55% of respondents to declare that they do not approve of the government’s handling of the situation.
Kishida himself tested positive for the virus on Sunday, forcing him to cancel a trip to an aid conference in Tunisia.
On the question of Abe’s state funeral – set for September 27 and paid for by the government – 53% said they were against the idea.