TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved parliament on Friday (Jan 23) ahead of a snap election on Feb 8, counting on her Cabinet’s high poll numbers to steer her otherwise unpopular ruling party to victory.
The country’s first woman premier had announced her intentions on Monday, seeking public backing for measures to shield households from rising living costs and increase spending on defence.
The speaker of parliament on Friday read out a letter, officially dissolving the lower house as lawmakers shouted the traditional rallying cry of “banzai”.
The ruling coalition of Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) has only a slim majority in the powerful lower chamber.
But Takaichi is hoping widespread support for her Cabinet will help deliver her a stronger mandate even though the LDP itself is battling low approval ratings and a string of scandals.
Her government has around 90 per cent support among those under 30, according to a poll published at the end of December by the conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper and Fuji Television.
“It’s not clear if high public support for the Takaichi Cabinet will actually lead to support of the LDP,” Hidehiro Yamamoto, politics professor at the University of Tsukuba, told AFP.
“What the public are concerned about is measures to address inflation,” he said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/japan-pm-sanae-takaichi-dissolve-parliament-snap-election-feb-8-5877816
