Support rate for Abe's cabinet down to 56% after election

A latest poll released Tuesday showed that the support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet declined to 56.2 percent from 68.0 percent in the previous one, after Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) set a victory in Sunday's upper house election. The survey, conducted Monday and Tuesday by Japan's Kyodo News, revealed that about 39.8 percent of the respondents welcome the victory of the ruling camp that contains the LDP and its junior ruling partner the New Komeito Party. About 17.8 percent showed their opposition to the victory, according to the poll. As to the poor performance of the opposition parties, about 68. 8 percent said it needs for realignment in the parties, while 22.7 percent said it is unnecessary. The ruling camp grabbed 76 seats in Sunday's upper house race. Along with the uncontested 59 seats of the two parties, the ruling camp has maintained a majority of 135 seats in the 242-seat upper house. The ruling bloc has also maintained an overwhelming majority in the more powerful lower house, controlling two chambers of the Diet now. In an informal session after a cabinet meeting Tuesday, Abe urged his ministers to push forward his policies and to deal with his strategies in a speedy manner, probably referring to his economic policy dubbed "Abenomics." Abe vowed Sunday after the reveal of the election outcome that he and his party "will let the real economy see the effect and let the people feel their income and wages increasing." The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), however, only secured 17 seats in the upper house election, the fewest since the party was formed in 1998. Secretary General of the DPJ, Goshi Hosono, said Tuesday that he will step down in late August due to the defeat, according to local media. Banri Kaieda, chief of the DPJ, said Sunday that the party's three years in power let voters down and the DPJ was not able to restore voters'confidence, adding that he takes the responsibility of the outcome. Senior official of the DPJ Sumio Mabuchi also said that the election was a"very tough fight"and they"gravely accept the outcome." The DPJ remained the largest party in the upper house before the election. The party was defeated by the LDP in the lower house election last December and was ousted from the ruling position.