A Kyodo News weekend poll released June 15 found 38.5 percent of voters voicing support for the Democratic Party of Japan, compared with a record low 19.8 percent backing Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party.

The support rate for the Cabinet was just 17.5 percent, down 8.7 percentage points from May, according to the latest survey of 1,039 randomly called voters.

Asked what party they would vote for in the next House of Representatives election's proportional representation blocks, 47.8 percent of the pollees named the DPJ and 18.7 percent said the LDP.

Aso effectively dismissed Kunio Hatoyama as internal affairs and communications minister June 12 over a high-profile row concerning the reappointment of Yoshifumi Nishikawa as president of Japan Post Holdings Co. The survey found that only 17.5 percent of the respondents approved of Hatoyama's exit, while 74.8 percent said they disapprove.