Abe dissolves lower house for election

He could theoretically serve until 2021 if reelected as party leader next year

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the lower house of parliament on Thursday, paving the way for a snap election that is expected to be held on Oct 22, with official campaigning set to start on Oct 10.

Abe dissolved the lower house as soon as it convened at noon for an extraordinary session.

Much to the chagrin of opposition parties, Abe made no policy speech, shirked any parliamentary debate and held no news conference afterward.

The overall timing of the dissolution and calling of a snap election, observers have said, is to not allow the opposition camp enough time to fully prepare for the upcoming general election.

However, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's newly-formed Party of Hope may see an effective merger with the main opposition Democratic Party to better stand against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-led bloc in the upcoming campaign.

A survey by the Mainichi newspaper showed 18 percent of voters plan to vote for Koike's party, compared to 29 percent for Abe's LDP.

Jeff Kingston, a professor at Temple University's Japan Campus in Tokyo, called Koike's party a game changer.

"I think it is really bad news for Abe," he said. "She doesn't actually have to win, but she has to inflict a bloody nose on Abe ... If her party does better than expected, expect the long knives to come out in the LDP, and Abe could be ushered to the exit."

Abe said on Monday that the dissolution of the lower house and calling of a snap election is in essence to seek a mandate on his policies to address Japan's rapidly aging society, falling birthrate and security concerns related to the Korean Peninsula.

He recently unveiled a $17.8 billion policy package to be paid for by an allocation of revenue generated from a tax hike slated for 2019, to service ballooning social welfare costs.

Longest-serving leader

The Japanese leader could theoretically serve until 2021 if he is reelected as party leader next year. This would make him the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history.

Recent polls, however, have shown that the majority of voters are opposed to this idea.

The public have also been opposed to the calling of a general election within the period of which the prime minister's last term would have naturally run its course, the latest polls revealed.

Abe has also been accused by opposition parties and the public of calling the snap election as a means of merely extending his grip on power.

The move has also been seen as a strategy for the prime minister to avoid answering multiple allegations of cronyism by the opposition camp during parliamentary debate.

The ruling coalition currently controls 68 percent of seats in the 475-member lower house, including 288 for the LDP and 35 for its coalition partner Komeito.

Xinhua - AP - reuters

(China Daily 09/29/2017 page12)