Japan’s PM Takaichi to dissolve parliament to hold snap elections, says coalition partner – Firstpost

Japanese Prime Minister Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi intends to dissolve the lower house of the parliament to hold snap elections, a coalition partner has stated.

Takaichi has notified that she will dissolve the lower House “at an early stage of the ordinary parliamentary session”, Hirofumi Yoshimura, co-head of the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), told reporters on Wednesday.

The annual parliamentary session will start next week. There have been unconfirmed reports that elections could take place as early as February.

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Previously, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper had reported that Takaichi was considering holding snap elections on February 8 or 15.

Japan is not scheduled to hold elections until 2028.

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Last year, Takaichi became the first woman to become the Prime Minister of Japan. She was elected by her party, LDP, as the party leader after Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation. But she has not had any honeymoon period as she inherited an economy plagued by deflation and in the grips of rising prices.

Since assuming the office, Takaichi has been under pressure from all sides: the public that’s frustrated about the economy, the emerging far-right parties that seek to capitalise on the popular disgruntlement, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump who have pressured her on the issue of Taiwan.

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The timeline of snap elections, as reported in the media, could disrupt Takaichi’s initial plans for the economy. While the country has absorbed the impact of higher US tariffs, persistent food inflation has weighed on consumption. The failure to enact the budget by the end of March would force the government to compile a stop-gap budget and potentially delay the rollout of spending measures.

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Last month, Takaichi had unveiled the $783 billion budget, which was the largest in Japanese history. She intended to raise social spending as well as defence spending to address the challenges posed by demographic challenges and geopolitical tensions.

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