Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved parliament on Friday, paving the way for early elections on February 8, where she hopes strong public opinion polls will give her a majority in the lower house of parliament.
Takaichi said at a news conference in Tokyo that it was a “very important decision” that would “determine Japan’s path together with the people.”
The country’s first female leader and her cabinet have enjoyed strong public support since taking office last October.
But her party is lagging in the opinion polls and the move is risky. This is Japan’s second general election in as many years and will test the country’s appetite for plans to increase public spending at a time when voters place the cost of living above all else.
Takaichi, who was elected prime minister by lawmakers on October 21, is now seeking office in the House of Representatives, Japan’s most powerful house.
Since taking office, Takaichi said, “I have been constantly concerned that the Takaichi cabinet has not yet been tested in an election in which the people choose the government.”
“Is Sanae Takaichi fit to be prime minister? I wanted to ask the sovereigns to decide,” she said at a press conference.
The voting campaign to elect 465 members of the House of Representatives to four-year terms begins on January 27.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has ruled Japan almost continuously since 1955. It currently holds 199 seats in the House of Commons, including three held by independent partners, the most of any party. The coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party has a weak majority with not enough seats to govern.
Takaichi, a protégé of conservative former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a self-proclaimed follower of Margaret Thatcher, is known as Japan’s “Iron Lady.”
She took office promising economic recovery after years of stagnation.
Takaichi advocates massive government-led spending to spur economic growth. This is a revival of the kind of stimulus Japan saw under “Abenomics.” Her personal poll ratings soared in her first few months in office. There has not been a more popular Japanese prime minister since Prime Minister Abe in 2012.
Last December, her cabinet approved a record defense budget of 9 trillion yen ($57 billion, 43 billion pounds). It comes amid growing concerns about China, with Japan describing its neighbor’s military activity in the region as its “biggest strategic challenge.”
Prime Minister Takaichi became the target of China’s anger when he said in November last year that Japan could respond by deploying its self-defense forces if China attacked Taiwan. Due to the ensuing diplomatic conflict, relations between the two countries plummeted to their lowest point in more than a decade.
Meanwhile, Takaichi has pursued closer relations with the United States. During U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan in October last year, the two leaders praised each other and signed a rare earth deal. They also signed a document heralding a new “golden age” in U.S.-Japan relations.
Opinion polls show that while the Liberal Democratic Party remains unpopular among Japanese, Takaichi and her government have an approval rating of 60 to 80 percent.
Takaichi hopes this popularity will help the Liberal Democratic Party secure a “single majority” in parliament and more easily push through bold policies, Dr Seijiro Takeshita, a business professor at Shizuoka University, told the BBC World Service’s Asia-specific podcast.
“She wants to solidify her position to make things smoother in the later stages,” Takeshita said.
But sudden election gambling comes with its own risks.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership is shaken, and Takaichi becomes the fourth prime minister in five years. Her predecessors’ terms were cut short by falling public support and scandals.
Her immediate predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, also announced snap elections shortly after taking office, which led to one of the worst results in the LDP’s history and cost the LDP its majority in the House of Representatives.
Another challenge comes in the form of a new unified opposition party, the Center for Reform Coalition, formed last week by Japan’s largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, and Komeito, a former coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Takaichi said the dissolution of parliament would be carried out “only after establishing a thorough system” to ensure there are no disruptions to economic policies that affect people’s livelihoods and rising prices.
What Takaichi hopes is that “people will trust her to deliver on her promises,” Dr Geoffrey Kingston, professor of Asian studies at Temple University in the US, told the BBC.
Her high approval ratings “will only go down, so she wants to reap the benefits of a long honeymoon,” he added.
