Support for Japan PM Fukuda sinks to 46 percent

TOKYO (Reuters) - Support for Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has dropped more than 10 percentage points to 46 percent, a newspaper poll showed on Monday, a result likely to dampen prospects for an early general election.

In a poll carried out by the Mainichi Shimbun on October 20-21, 46 percent of respondents said they supported Fukuda, down 11 percentage points from the paper's previous survey conducted last month just after Fukuda assumed office.

The poll result was similar to that of a survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper last week.

The share of those who do not support the prime minister inched up five percentage points to 30 percent, while the rest was indifferent.

The survey also showed that voters were divided on a government plan to continue a naval mission supporting U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan, with 48 percent of respondents supporting it and 43 percent against it.

The split over the mission, which Washington wants Tokyo to continue, come as parliamentary debate over the extension is set to start on Tuesday and amid media reports that a former top defense official had been colluding with a military contractor.

Opposition parties, which control the upper house, have vowed to vote down a government bill to extend the mission, under which Japan provides fuel and water to U.S. and other ships policing the Indian Ocean against drugs and arms smugglers and terrorists.

The ruling bloc can override the upper house vote with its two-thirds majority in the more powerful lower house, but it may be reluctant to resort to this without strong public support.

Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told Reuters last week that the ruling camp would need voter backing of at least 60 percent to use their lower house majority to pass the bill.

The opposition are also demanding sworn testimony in parliament by former vice defense minister Takemasa Moriya over media reports that he was entertained by a defense contractor and also over persistent speculation that oil provided for U.S. ships had been diverted for use in Iraq.

Although an election for the lower house need not be held until late 2009, parliamentary deadlock over the naval mission could trigger a snap election earlier.

The Mainichi survey, which collected responses from 1,064 voters, showed that support for the Fukuda's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Democratic Party both stood at 27 percent.