Japanese PM loses support over fuel tax
Updated
Support for the Japanese prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, has fallen sharply to around 20 per cent after his ruling coalition reinstated an unpopular tax on gasoline.
The bill which was rammed through parliament reinstates the 24 US cent tax.
Polls by the Asahi Shimbun and the Nikkei financial daily show the public did not buy the government's argument that the tax is necessary in the face of soaring fuel and food prices.
The controversial gasoline tax, which raises $25 billion a year, lapsed at the end of March due to the political stalemate in parliament.
The government could not force its renewal until this week.
