Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga’s popularity nosedives

Agency Report

Support for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga hit 28 percent for the first time on Monday, a survey by Asahi newspaper showed.

The poll indicated that the Tokyo Olympic Games failed to boost his ratings amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections.

Roughly a third disapproved of holding the Games which closed on Sunday and 60% said they did not want Suga to stay on as premier.

The result darkens the prospects of Suga’s party in general elections to be held later this year.

In the poll conducted over the weekend, Suga’s support slid to 28%, the lowest since he became prime minister in September last year.

Of those polled, 56% of those who replied said it was good to hold the Tokyo Games, while 32% thought it was a bad idea.

Japan’s slow vaccination rollouts have hurt Suga’s popularity.

A spike in new infections, caused by the rapid spread of the Delta variant, overshadowed the Olympic Games.

Cases hit a milestone of one million on Friday.

Suga and Olympics organisers have said there was no link between the Games and the spike in cases.