Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will dissolve the House of Representatives and call a snap general election about 100 days after taking office. The Constitutional Democratic Party, the largest opposition, and Komeito, which had been part of the previous ruling coalition, have begun talks to launch a new party.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 14th, Takaichi told Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Suzuki Shunichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Yoshimura Hirofumi of her plan to dissolve the House of Representatives during a meeting at the Tokyo prime minister's residence that evening.
With this, the House of Representatives is expected to be dissolved on the 23rd, with voting and counting to be held on the 8th of next month. The Liberal Democratic Party (199 seats) and the Japan Innovation Party (34 seats) barely reach a majority (233 seats) in the lower house, and they do not hold a majority in the House of Councilors.
With this election, Takaichi aims for the Liberal Democratic Party alone to secure a majority of seats. As the cabinet approval rating stands at 70%, the calculation appears to be that calling an early general election using that as leverage would make a majority attainable.
In fact, in November last year, immediately after the administration launched, a poll predicted that if a lower house election were held, the Liberal Democratic Party would win 260 seats, far exceeding a majority.
In addition to the early dissolution of the lower house, Takaichi had sought to form a coalition with the Democratic Party for the People (27 seats), but after Democratic Party for the People leader Takami Yuichiro showed a lukewarm attitude, she ultimately chose to seek to expand her party's seats on its own.
However, dissatisfaction is growing within the Liberal Democratic Party over Takaichi having decided major matters with a few close aides while excluding the party leadership. Secretary-General Suzuki is said to have expressed displeasure, saying, "I did not hear a single word (about the dissolution)."
Meanwhile, a unification move is also taking shape among the opposition. Komeito, which left its 26-year coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party, will join the Constitutional Democratic Party, the largest opposition, to launch a new party. The parties plan to keep their House of Councilors (upper house) members as they are and establish the new party with only lower house members.
The Constitutional Democratic Party currently holds 148 seats in the lower house, and Komeito holds 24.
The Constitutional Democratic Party plans to hold a joint meeting and general assembly of its bicameral lawmakers on the day, and Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito and Constitutional Democratic Party leader Yoshihiko Noda are expected to reach a final agreement through talks.