Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi moved to dissolve the country’s parliament on Friday, setting the stage for a snap election on 8 February.
The 465-member lower house was officially disbanded following a formal declaration read by the Speaker, an act met with the customary rallying cry of “banzai” from gathered legislators, reports Al Jazeera.
The dissolution initiates a 12-day election campaign that is scheduled to begin officially on Tuesday.
Takaichi, who made history as Japan’s first female premier upon her election in October, seeks to leverage her high personal approval rating – currently standing at approximately 70 per cent – to shore up the governing party’s position following a period of declining public support.
The current governing coalition, formed by Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), maintains only a narrow majority in the lower chamber.
Hidehiro Yamamoto, a professor of politics at the University of Tsukuba, noted that it remains to be seen if the Prime Minister’s individual popularity will translate into a win for the LDP, as voters remain primarily concerned with the government’s response to inflation.
Public broadcaster NHK identified the primary campaign issues as the rising cost of living and regional security, particularly amid escalating tensions with China. Diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been strained since November, when Takaichi suggested Japan might intervene if China pursued military action against Taiwan.
In response, China has implemented various economic and diplomatic retaliatory measures.
To address the impact of inflation on households, both the government and the opposition have proposed removing the consumption tax on food.
While government subsidies for utilities helped slow the inflation rate to 2.4 per cent in December, this remains above the central bank’s 2 per cent target.
The price of rice, a fundamental staple, has become a potent symbol of these economic challenges; despite some recent cooling, prices in December were still 34 per cent higher than the previous year.
The LDP has maintained a nearly continuous hold on power for decades.
Seeking to challenge this dominance, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) has partnered with Komeito to establish a Centrist Reform Alliance aimed at capturing the swing vote.
Although analysts predict a competitive race, they suggest the opposition’s likelihood of victory remains low.
