Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has dissolved the Parliament just three months after assuming office. Taking this decision on Friday (January 23), he formally dissolved the lower house, due to which mid-term elections are going to be held in the country. Now general elections will be held in Japan on 8 February. Parliament Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga also announced the next election while reading out the official letter regarding the dissolution of the lower house.
This step of Prime Minister Takaichi is being seen as a strategy to take advantage of his increasing popularity. Takaichi, who became Japan’s first female prime minister in October, has enjoyed a strong approval rating of about 70 percent in recent months. According to media agencies, this decision is part of his party’s attempt to regain political ground lost in recent years.
With the dissolution of the 465-member Parliament, there will now be a 12-day election campaign. In the current situation, the ruling coalition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party (JIP) hold on to a very slim majority in the lower house. This alliance is in a weak position after the loss in the 2024 elections, while it does not even have a majority in the Upper House. Under these circumstances, the opposition parties have strongly criticized the decision to dissolve Parliament and have called it a step that will increase political instability.
During this period, Japan is facing serious challenges on the foreign policy and security front. Tensions with China are rising, especially after Prime Minister Takaichi himself hinted that Japan could join in if China takes military action against Taiwan. Apart from this, US President Donald Trump is also said to be pressuring Japan to buy more weapons.
Born in 1961 in Nara Prefecture, western Japan, Sanae Takaichi’s political journey began in the 1980s, when she worked in the Washington office of Democratic US Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder. At that time, trade tension between America and Japan was at its peak. Meanwhile he concluded that “unless Japan can defend itself, its future will always be at the mercy of America’s superficial opinion.”
Takaichi contested the 1992 election as an independent candidate, which she lost by a narrow margin. She won the following year and joined the LDP in 1996. Since then, she has been elected Member of Parliament ten times and has held important positions such as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Minister of Economic Security, and Minister of State for Trade and Industry.
64-year-old Takaichi has long been influenced by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It was his decades-old goal to gain leadership of LDP, which he accomplished in the third attempt. Now with the dissolution of Parliament and the announcement of snap elections, their litmus test is once again in the hands of Japanese voters.
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