Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on Monday that she will dissolve the House of Representatives on January 23, the day the ordinary Diet session convenes, for a snap general election, according to media reports. Japanese media described the move as “an unusually early election at an unusual time.” Besides the weak position of the ruling party, Japanese media noted that factors behind the decision also included strained China-Japan relations following her Taiwan-related remarks.
This marks only the second time in 60 years that dissolution would occur at the outset of an ordinary Diet session, and the first since sessions began convening in January in 1992, Asahi Shimbun reported.
As the schedule for the lower house election has been officially announced for January 27 with counting on February 8, the period from dissolution to voting would be the shortest in post-war history at 16 days, prompting both ruling and opposition parties to accelerate election preparations, Jiji Press reported.
