Japan PM Dissolves Parliament, Sets Stage For National Elections

Fumio Kishida, Japan’s new prime minister has dissolved the lower house of parliament on Thursday, in preparation for the national elections which will be held later this month. Kishida, who recently took over from Yoshihide Suga 11 days ago, noted that he will be working towards maintaining a lower house majority for his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The national elections which is slated for October 31 will allow for the people to choose a new parliament.

According to popular opinion, Kishida is enjoying great support from the public. He has said that he feels fulfilled to be conducting the next elections, after the last lower house election which was held in 2017 under Shinzo Abe. Speaking to reporters at his office, he said “I want to use the election to tell the people what we’re trying to do and what we’re aiming for. I’ve had a very busy schedule but strangely, I’m not feeling tired — I’m feeling fulfilled.”

In another development, the country’s largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), stated that if it were to win the election, it planned to focus on closing Japan’s income gap with wealth redistribution. Yukio Edano, CDPJ chief told reporters that growth cannot be achieved without the distribution of wealth. He said “Wage hikes and distribution once growth is achieved.’ This is what [former prime minister] Abe was saying. But there was no growth over the past eight, nine years, and no wage hikes. If we don’t distribute wealth first, no growth is achieved. This is a rather clear difference [between the two parties].” This isn’t far from what Kishida announced himself, stating the position of the LDP in the matter.

The CDPJ also announced their support for same sex marriages and their plan to legalize it. However, being a socially conservative party, the LDP retains its decision to be against same sex marriages.

Source: dw.com

Featured Image Source: The Japan Times