TOKYO, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Nearly half of the respondents did not view Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet reshuffle the previous day positively, a Kyodo News poll showed Wednesday.
According to the survey, 45.2 percent of respondents said that they did not view the cabinet reshuffle positively, while only 31.0 percent said they did, showing that the prime minister's cabinet failed to gain much public support.
The overall approval rate for Abe's administration stood at 46.5 percent, down 0.9 percentage point from the previous poll in September, while disapproval rate was down 1.8 percent to 38.2 percent.
Abe reshuffled his cabinet on Tuesday, and while introducing 12 new faces, he retained a number of key ministers in an effort to maintain government stability and policy continuity.
The prime minister reappointed six current cabinet members, including Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as finance minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and Foreign Minister Taro Kono, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko and Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization Toshimitsu Motegi.
The opposition parties, meanwhile, denounced the reshuffle as an attempt by Abe to reward old friends and allies for their support in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s leadership race held on Sept.20.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, criticized Abe's decision to retain Aso, a key Abe ally, despite a series of document tampering and sexual harassment scandals at the Finance Ministry.
The Kyodo survey showed on Wednesday that 51.9 percent of the respondents believe Aso should have been replaced in the reshuffle, while 33.5 percent said they see no problem with his reappointment.
At a press conference after the reshuffle, Abe reiterated his call for the LDP to submit its constitutional amendment proposals to the extraordinary Diet session to be convened later this month.
The Kyodo poll showed that 48.7 percent were opposed to the move and 36.4 percent supported it.
Abe beat his sole rival, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the LDP leadership race in September and won a third consecutive term as president of the LDP, which also gave him a chance to become Japan's longest serving prime minister.
