WNAM MONITORING: Japan’s first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering holding snap elections two years earlier than originally scheduled, amid high Cabinet ratings, a media report claimed on Sunday.
Takaichi “told a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) official that she is considering dissolving the House of Representatives (lower house) at the outset of the ordinary parliamentary session scheduled to begin on Jan. 23,” Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported, citing sources.
The 64-year-old Japanese leader was elected as the 104th prime minister of Japan last October.
Her LDP, in coalition with the Japan Innovation Party, leads a thin majority in the 465-seat lower house of the bicameral parliament. They remain in the minority in the 225-seat upper house.
In case, Takaichi calls for snap elections, the official campaigning for a general election may start on either Jan. 27 or Feb. 3, with voting set for Feb. 8 or Feb. 15, respectively, the report added.
Since the current lower house of the Japanese parliament, locally known as Diet, was elected in October 2024, the general elections are originally scheduled no later than October 2028.
Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has “instructed the election board in each prefecture to prepare for possible general elections,” according to NHK News.
A survey by Jiji Press showed that some 703 people were “currently preparing to run in the next election.”
Of the 465 seats, 289 are allocated to single-seat constituencies, and 176 are assigned under the proportional representation system.
