(Tokyo) New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved the lower house of Parliament on Wednesday before early legislative elections on October 27, hoping to take advantage of his political “honeymoon” to “create a new Japan”.
This vote is “an attempt to create a new Japan that will radically change the nature of Japanese society. In order to carry out this major change, we need the trust of the Japanese people,” explained the new head of government during a press briefing following the dissolution.
The leader in office since 1er October seeks through this election to consolidate its mandate in order to implement its program of strengthening security and defense, increased support for low-income households and revitalization of the Japanese countryside.
His predecessor Fumio Kishida, in power for nearly three years, suffered from historically low popularity polls, partly due to a funding scandal that affected the conservative right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), which is also from Mr. Ishiba, and his apparent inability to fight against inflation, which has affected the Japanese since 2022.
The PLD nevertheless has, with its coalition partner, Komeito (center right), a comfortable majority in the lower house (290 seats out of 465).
With the dissolution of the lower house of Parliament, Mr. Ishiba wants to put his party to the test in the elections before the end of its “honeymoon” period, analyzes Yu Uchiyama, professor of political science at the University of Tokyo .
“It is logical that he wanted to call a quick election as soon as the “face” of the party has changed, while the momentum is still there,” adds Mr. Uchiyama, interviewed by AFP.
According to this expert, Shigeru Ishiba also wanted to take the opposition by surprise, because the PLD’s opponents remain undecided on how to coordinate for the election.
Be “strict”
Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party (PDC, center left), the main opposition party – 99 seats in the lower house – judged that Mr. Ishiba aimed through this “rushed” decision to avoid being put in the hot seat regarding the PLD financing scandal.
“It made me realize once again that even with the new prime minister, our policies will not change,” Mr. Noda told public broadcaster NHK.
This weekend, the Prime Minister announced that the party would not support some of its members involved in this affair for the vote.
This announcement reflects Mr. Ishiba’s desire to show the public that he can be “strict”, and he has thus “probably regained some public trust”, believes Mr. Uchiyama.
Mr. Ishiba, who favors the creation of a regional military alliance on the NATO model, agreed last week that this would not happen “overnight”.
According to Yee Kuang Heng of the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, the idea seemed like a “return to the past” reminiscent of the defunct Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (1954-1977).
Japan, like many industrialized countries, also faces a demographic crisis, with a stubbornly low birth rate and the world’s oldest population after Monaco.
Mr Ishiba recently called the situation a “silent emergency”, adding that the government would promote measures to support families, such as flexible working hours.
Anxious to sustainably bring the economy out of the deflation that has undermined it for decades, he also wants to stimulate income through a new recovery plan and support for local authorities and low-income households.
The PDC, for its part, seeks to differentiate itself from the PLD on a series of issues linked to diversity, in particular by committing to legalizing marriages between people of the same sex.