By Ma Jie

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is facing an uphill battle to win the general election in the coming months as public support rates keeps free-falling.

Resignation backlash

Over the weekend surveys conducted by major Japanese press showed the support rates for Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet have plummeted after the resignation of Kunio Hatoyama as internal affairs and communications minister.

Hatoyama, one of the closest allies of Aso's, was effectively sacked by the prime minister over a high-profile row concerning the reappointment of the president of Japan Post Holdings Co.

Following the incident, support rate for the Cabinet of Aso went down 8.7 percentage points from the previous poll last month to 17.5 percent, according to a Kyodo News survey released Monday. The support rate for the LDP was the lowest for a ruling party on record in Kyodo polls.

In another survey conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, Aso's Cabinet received 19 percent support rate, down 5 percentage points from last month.

Similar results were also shown in polls by the Asahi Shimbun and the Daily Yomiuri, which linked the reason directly to Hatoyama's resignation.

Analysts said the removal of Hatoyama dealt another blow to Aso and gave the public the impression that he lacks appropriate leadership.

The Mainichi Shimbun survey said 67 percent do not support Aso' s removal of Hatoyama, compared with 22 percent who expressed support.

The Asahi Shimbun found 62 percent disagreed with Aso's handling of the matter, compared with 22 percent of approval.

In the Daily Yomiuri survey, 70 percent of respondents said the confusion over the reappointment of Japan Post president indicates a lack of leadership on the part of the prime minister.

Kunio Hatoyama was the third minister to leave the Aso Cabinet, following Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Nariaki Nakayama in September last year over a string of gaffes, and Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa in February this year over his apparently drunken appearance before the press in Rome.

Even inside Aso's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), people are questioning if the prime minister is a capable leader. Some even suggest picking a new president to replace Aso ahead of the general election.