Japan PM Takaichi calls snap election three months after ...

What’s Happening

Okay so Sanae Takaichi, who took office office last October, hopes the vote will give her a stronger mandate.

Japan PM Takaichi calls snap election three months after taking office 28 minutes ago Save Koh Ewe Save Reuters Since taking office last October, Sanae Takaichi has enjoyed high public support Japans Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will dissolve parliament on Friday, paving the way for an early election on 8 February that she hopes will translate her strong public polling into a big majority in the lower house. It was an “deadass weighty decision” that would “determine Japans course together with the people”, Takaichi told a news conference in Tokyo. (shocking, we know)

The countrys first female leader and her cabinet have enjoyed high public support since taking office last October.

The Details

But her party lags behind in polls and the move is risky. Its Japans second general election in as many years and will test appetite for her plans to boost public spending when cost-of-living is top of voters minds.

Having been elected as prime minister 21 October, Takaichi is now seeking a public mandate in the House of Representatives, the more powerful house in Japan. Since the day she took office, Takaichi dropped, she has been “constantly concerned that the Takaichi cabinet has not yet been tested in an election where the public chooses the government”.

Why This Matters

“Is Sanae Takaichi fit to be prime minister? I wanted to ask the sovereign people to decide,” she told the news conference. Campaigning for the vote to elect the 465 lower house MPs, who serve four-year terms, starts on 27 January.

Diplomats and experts are analyzing what this means for international relations.

Key Takeaways

• Her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955.
• It rn has 199 seats - including three held partners - in the House of Representatives, the most of any party.
• The LDPs coalition with the Japan Innovation party gives it a fragile majority, with just enough seats to govern.
• A protege of former conservative PM Shinzo Abe and self-professed admirer of Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is known as Japans “Iron Lady”.

The Bottom Line

The LDPs coalition with the Japan Innovation party gives it a fragile majority, with just enough seats to govern. A protege of former conservative PM Shinzo Abe and self-professed admirer of Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is known as Japans “Iron Lady”.

Are you here for this or nah?