JAPAN’S NEW LEADER KISHIDA DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT HERALDING OCT 31 POLLS

Thu 14 October 2021:

Fumio Kishida, Japan’s new Prime Minister, dissolved the lower house of parliament on Thursday, clearing the way for national elections on October 31.

After being elected prime minister by parliament only 10 days ago to succeed Yoshihide Suga, Kishida said he is seeking public approval for his policies.

At a plenary session, Tadamori Oshima, the speaker of the more powerful lower chamber, announced the dissolution.

At the announcement, all 465 members of the lower house rose to their feet, screamed “banzai” three times, and then walked away. They’ve already lost their seats, and the election for a new lower house begins on Tuesday.

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won the last lower house election in 2017.

His successor, Suga, was only in office for a year, and his government’s popularity was harmed by his perceived harsh approach to dealing with the coronavirus, as well as his insistence on conducting the Tokyo Olympics despite mounting cases that enraged the public.

Kishida, who is in charge of organizing support for the ruling party, has promised to pursue “trust and empathy” politics.

He said in his first policy speech last Friday promised to strengthen the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic in case of another resurgence and revive its battered economy while bolstering defenses against threats from China and North Korea.

The LDP is still socially conservative, and while there has been progress on LGBTQ rights in society, Kishida has stated that he opposes same-sex marriage.

The largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democrats (CDPJ), led by Yukio Edano, has highlighted issues such as its support for same-sex marriage and different surnames for couples.

The Constitutional Democrats’ major difficulty is their low popularity.

Only 13% planned to vote for them in a recent poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun daily, well below the LDP’s 47 percent; most other polls show support in the single digits.

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