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Support for Japan's PM stays above 70%

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-05 10:57

Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama prepares to speak in support of the Tokyo 2016 bid presentation during the 121st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Copenhagen October 2, 2009. [Agencies]

Support for Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, remains above 70 percent over two weeks after he took power, despite fragile backing for some of his proposed policies, a newspaper survey showed on Monday.

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Hatoyama, following a landslide victory in an election in late August, launched an untested government just over two weeks ago that aims to radically change how the country is run, wean the economy from exports and create more equal ties with close ally Washington.

The survey by the Yomiuri Shimbun showed support for Hatoyama's cabinet stood at 71 percent, with voters saying they had hopes for new steps to be taken by the new government and a decision-making process led by politicians, rather than bureaucrats who traditionally had clout over policy-making.

That was slightly lower than 75 percent in a previous survey conducted just after he took office, which was second only to the figures for charismatic leader Junichiro Koizumi, who took power in 2001.

The poll also showed 75 percent of those surveyed supported Hatoyama's proposed target of a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, but nearly 70 percent were against a proposal of eliminating highway tolls.