Reference News Network, January 13 report: According to Kyodo News, Prime Minister Takahashi Asako has informed the top leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party that she will dissolve the House of Representatives at the opening of the regular session of the Diet (the annual meeting of the Japanese parliament) on the 23rd. The information was disclosed by relevant persons on the 13th. It is expected that the prime minister will soon announce this decision. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party have entered a "state of war", and the opposition parties are also actively preparing. This will be the first House of Representatives election since October 2024. The current possible schedule includes two options: the announcement on January 27th, with voting on February 8th, or the announcement on February 3rd, with voting on February 15th.
It is believed that the prime minister's move aims to increase the number of seats in the House of Representatives and consolidate the ruling base.
If the House of Representatives is dissolved right at the beginning of the regular session, the budget for fiscal year 2026 may be postponed until April, i.e., after the new fiscal year begins. If it is delayed too long, a special budget must be compiled, which will have a significant impact on people's lives.
A political vacuum will inevitably occur, and the opposition parties criticize this move as contradicting the cabinet's previous commitment to prioritize addressing rising prices. Given that negotiations on expanding the ruling coalition and social security reforms are likely to stagnate due to the need for consensus with the opposition parties, there are also opinions opposing the early dissolution of the House of Representatives.
According to reports, there are cautious views within the Japanese government that the 2026 fiscal year budget should be passed before the end of March. The opposition parties point out that this move contradicts Takahashi's previous claim that "addressing high prices is the top priority," and they have increased their criticism against her.
The leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Kodama Yoshihiko, once again questioned the dissolution of the House of Representatives, pointing out, "Once the dissolution date is determined, we can only fight back. However, we still don't feel the righteousness."
Another report from the Nikkei website on January 13 states that the representative of the People's Democratic Party, Tamaki Yuichiro, said on the 13th that cooperation between his party and the Takahashi administration would become difficult. Tamaki clearly stated that because the budget for fiscal year 2026 is unlikely to be passed within this fiscal year, the "trust relationship" between the two parties will be shaken.
Tamaki believes that dissolving the House of Representatives will make it difficult to promptly implement measures to address rising prices, and "this approach that may lead to a clearly unfavorable situation for the economy cannot help but raise doubts." (Translated by Liu Lin)
Original: toutiao.com/article/7594845823016518144/
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