Abe support falls as Koike steals spotlight before election

Washington

SUPPORT for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fell in two polls released on Monday, three weeks before a general election where Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike's new Party of Hope threatens to eat into his majority.

The premier's approval rate dropped below his disapproval rate in polls by Kyodo News and the Asahi newspaper. Almost 46 per cent of respondents to the Kyodo survey said they saw Mr Abe as an appropriate person to be prime minister, compared with 33 per cent who chose Ms Koike, whose power base is largely in and around the capital.