TOKYO, April 11 (UPI) -- The approval rating for the government of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has dropped from 35 percent in March to 28 percent, a survey indicates.
A newspaper survey, conducted by telephone April 6-8, found 59 percent of respondents said they did not support the Noda Cabinet, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday.
The decline in the approval rating is believed to be the result of confusion within the Democratic Party of Japan over the Cabinet's submission of a measure to raise the consumption tax rate, the newspaper said.
The bill prompted four lawmakers close to former party leader Ichiro Ozawa to tender their resignations from top government posts.
The April survey, employing a random digit dialing method, reached 1,698 households with eligible voters. The newspaper said 1,065 people, or 63 percent, gave valid responses.
There was no information on the survey's margin of error.
