The Yomiuri newspaper’s survey issued on Monday showed that the disapproval rating for Abe’s Cabinet rose to 50% from early March, compared with 47.5% in the Kyodo news agency’s survey published on Sunday.

The support rate for the Cabinet showed a slight rise to 42.4% in the Kyodo poll, while the Yomiuri poll showed a drop of six points to 42%.

Both opinion polls were conducted between March 31-April 1.

The polls followed last week’s testimony by ex-finance ministry official Nobuhisa Sagawa, who said neither Abe nor his wife influenced the murky sales of state-owned land to a school operator or the finance ministry’s altering of documents about the deal.

The slide in Abe’s ratings has clouded his prospects of winning a third three-year term as president of his Liberal Democratic Party, a victory that would set him on track to become Japan’s longest-serving premier. Abe has been prime minister since 2012.