A street TV shows Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in a news conference announcing her decision to dissolve the House of Representatives, in the city of Kanazawa, Jan. 19, 2026. (Mainichi/Kazuki Iwamoto)
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently announced in a news conference that she will dissolve the House of Representatives at the start of the ordinary Diet session scheduled to convene Jan. 23 for a snap election. She emphasized that the public should judge the policy shifts from the previous administration of then Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and her party’s coalition with Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party).
However, this decision contradicts her earlier commitment to focus on policy implementation and will create a political vacuum. The justification for holding a lower house election despite its drawbacks is unclear, with Takaichi spending the entirety of the news conference providing a forced explanation that was unconvincing. It only raised more questions, and the move can only be called self-serving.
This is reflected in the fact that the election schedule will be the shortest in postwar history, with only 16 days between the lower house dissolution and voting on Feb. 8.
Due to the dissolution, the passage of the fiscal 2026 budget is likely to be delayed until April or later. The “super short-term battle” is supposedly intended to minimize this delay. A large supplementary budget has been prepared, and the prime minister claimed she has “taken all necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted economic management.”
However, the Takaichi administration had insisted that it would prioritize passing the fiscal 2026 budget by the end of March, emphasizing measures against high prices. The supplementary budget was not designed with the election in mind.
Takaichi, with a weak political base, aims to hold the election while Cabinet approval ratings are high to increase the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s seats. She likely wants to act before the opposition is fully prepared.
In line with this, ad hoc measures are evident. The prime minister has proposed exempting food from consumption tax for two years, seemingly in response to a new party formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, which had already proposed a sales tax reduction.
This is despite the fact that after taking office, Takaichi had dismissed the idea of reducing consumption tax, stating it was “not an effective immediate measure against rising prices.”
The establishment of a panel on integrated tax and social security reform has also become uncertain. In her New Year’s address, Takaichi expressed a desire for cross-party discussions, but her commitment is now in doubt.
The LDP, reversing its stance from the previous election, is moving to endorse lawmakers involved in a factional slush fund scandal. With its efforts to bring the curtain down on the “money in politics” issue, the party is showing no signs of genuine reflection.
The prime minister insisted that “now is the only time” for dissolution, but this is nothing but a self-serving decision focused on maintaining power. Her actions will only reinforce public distrust in politics.