Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the Lower House Friday for a snap election on Feb. 8.
The personally popular Takaichi sees the election as a means to gain the public’s mandate for her leadership of the ruling coalition, which consists of her Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP). The two parties joined forces after the departure of Komeito from the ruling coalition after 26 years following the election of the conservative, hawkish Takaichi as LDP president.
In return for a policy agreement, the JIP, also known as Nippon Ishin no Kai, supported her election as prime minister.
Holding an election now is a high-risk but potentially high-reward move for Takaichi, whose administration gets high approval ratings in media polls but whose party is less popular and will face competition from smaller opposition parties with similar policies.
It’s the first time since 1990 that a snap election will take place in February — normally a time parliament debates the budget for the next fiscal year. The budget bill must be approved in the lower and upper chambers by March 31, the end of the fiscal year, and there are concerns that the election will delay the bill’s passage.
Prior to the dissolution of the Lower House, the LDP-JIP coalition held a razor-thin majority of 233 seats in the 465-seat chamber.
The Feb. 8 election will also be the first electoral test for the Centrist Reform Alliance, a party hastily formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito.
Up for grabs are 289 district seats and 176 proportional representation seats, the latter of which are distributed by a party among its representatives depending on the number of votes it secures.
Major topics likely to feature during campaigning include tackling inflation and the possibility of consumption tax cuts, especially for food items, as well as social security reform and the strengthening of Japan’s security framework.
How to deal with foreign residents and visitors is also likely to be extensively debated.
With Friday’s dissolution of the Lower House, candidates have just 16 days until election day to get their message out during what could be a snowy season in certain parts of the country.
Freezing temperatures in Hokkaido and other regions that experience heavy snowfall could impact how candidates campaign outdoors and Feb. 8’s voter turnout rate.
Election officials are encouraging voters, particularly those in areas where there are weather concerns, to take advantage of early voting this time.