Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi intends to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap election at the start of the regular Diet session scheduled to be held on January 23, local media reported on Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the matter.
The move, conveyed to senior ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members, comes at a time when Takaichi’s Cabinet enjoys a high approval rating, raising hopes that an early election could improve her fragile political standing, given that the ruling coalition holds only a razor-thin majority in the lower house, Japan’s Kyodo News reported.
On Tuesday, the Japanese government, during a meeting of senior members of the steering committees of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, informed both ruling and opposition parties that the ordinary Diet session will be convened on January 23.
If the lower house is dissolved on January 23, the official campaign for the general election may begin on January 27 or February 3, with voting possibly taking place on February 9 or February 15, respectively. According to a source, Takaichi is expected to announce her decision soon, Kyodo News reported.
This would be the first general election to be held under Takaichi’s leadership. She assumed office as Japan’s first female Prime Minister in October last year, forming an alliance with the Japan Innovation Party after the Komeito party ended its coalition partnership with the LDP over the latter’s handling of a fundraising scandal.
Although more than two years remain before the four-year term of the current lower house members expires, Takaichi appears to have opted for a political gamble to secure public support for her pledge to build a “robust” economy through expansionary spending and for her hawkish security policies.
A former television anchor, Takaichi entered Japanese politics in 1993, winning a seat in the lower house as an independent. The 64-year-old lawmaker currently represents her home prefecture of Nara.
Takaichi joined the LDP in 1996 and entered the Cabinet for the first time under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She served as Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs and later became the first woman to chair the LDP’s Policy Research Council.
From 2022 to 2024, Takaichi served as Japan’s Economic Security Minister. She also holds the record as the longest-serving Minister for Internal Affairs, a post she held across multiple tenures.
A prominent voice of the LDP’s conservative wing for many years, Takaichi was elected party leader after securing 185 votes. She defeated Shinjiro Koizumi, who received 156 votes in the runoff, after none of the five candidates in the leadership race secured a majority in the initial round of voting.
–IANS
