Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government has hit a new ebb after he handed out gift vouchers to over a dozen ruling party lawmakers, the latest polls showed.
Conducted by the local Asahi newspaper, the latest poll showed on Monday that the approval rating plummeted 14 percentage points to 26% from the previous survey done in February, the worst since Ishiba took office last October.
Also, public approval for Ishiba's Cabinet fell to a record low as per two separate polls conducted by the Yomiuri newspaper and the Mainichi newspaper over the weekend.
Ishiba found himself at the center of a deepening controversy as he handed out gift vouchers worth 100,000 yen ($673) each to 15 first-term lower house lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) earlier this month.
The prime minister, for his part, said he used "pocket money" to hand out gift certificates to the lawmakers before having dinner with them on March 3 as a "show of appreciation" for their hard work getting elected.
The premier contended that his act didn't violate a political fund law but apologized for his action, which caused "distrust and anger among many people."
All of the 15 lawmakers later returned the gift vouchers to Ishiba's office.
The recent opinion polls could be a blow to Ishiba's leadership ahead of an upper house election slated for July.
