Japan PM calls for snap election in bid to expand power

Tokyo: Sanae Takaichi, Japan's prime minister, said Monday that she would dissolve parliament and call a snap election, in a bid to strengthen her power and revive the sagging fortunes of her party.

Takaichi, the first woman to lead the country, said she would dissolve the House of Representatives when it convenes for its regular session Friday and schedule an election on Feb. 8 -- only about three months into her tenure. She said the move was necessary to make Japan "strong and prosperous."

"I believe that the only option is for the people, as sovereign citizens, to decide whether or not Sanae Takaichi should be prime minister," she said at a news conference in Tokyo.

The decision to call an election is the biggest bet of Takaichi's tenure.

She risks losing critical seats, which could hinder her priorities and undermine her attempt to be a transformative, enduring figure. And if the Liberal Democratic Party -- Japan's main political group -- suffers a major defeat, she could lose her job, though analysts said that scenario was unlikely.

But Takaichi, a hard-line conservative, could also help reinvigorate the LDP and gain the seats in parliament it needs to comfortably push through her economic and security agenda.

"She wants to seize the momentum and strengthen her hand at home and on foreign policy," said Mireya Solís, the director of the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "The risk is, she cannot move forward with her agenda and emerges a much weaker figure."

The decision to call a snap election comes as Japan grapples with a host of challenges. China has in recent months imposed a series of economic reprisals on Japan, aiming to punish Takaichi for her expression of support for Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its territory.

Japan is also dealing with uncertainty from the United States under President Donald Trump. Takaichi has sought to woo Trump in an effort to get his administration to maintain its military and economic support for Japan.

By calling an election, Takaichi is betting that she can help revitalize the LDP, the broad-tent conservative group that has governed Japan for most of the past 70 years. Her party has experienced bruising defeats in recent elections, leaving it in the unusual position of being a minority in both houses of the parliament, known as the Diet.

After Takaichi's election in October, the LDP had a falling out with Komeito, its longtime coalition partner. The LDP has since formed an alliance with the Japan Innovation Party, a conservative group, in an arrangement that has allowed the LDP to continue to govern.

Opposition groups expressed concerns about Takaichi's decision to call a snap election, saying it could delay the approval of a budget and hurt the livelihoods of workers and families.

Yoshihiko Noda, a former prime minister who leads the rival Constitutional Democratic Party, said it was not a good time to dissolve parliament. He said an election could be distracting, given that students are taking entrance exams and some communities are dealing with heavy snowfall.Noda, working with the Komeito party, has helped to form a new group, the Centrist Reform Alliance, in a bid to unify the opposition against Takaichi in the coming election.

"Why dissolve the Diet at this time?" he said, according to Japanese news reports. He added that the public should not be "misled by stagecraft."

The LDP remains unpopular because of recent political finance scandals and inflation. But Takaichi consistently earns high marks, especially among younger Japanese. Her election last fall, in a party leadership vote, was seen as a milestone in a country where women are vastly underrepresented in politics.

The economy will most likely be front and center in the snap election, as voters look for assurances that Takaichi can deliver relief from rising prices and stagnant wages. Takaichi on Monday called inflation an "urgent matter" and promised to redouble efforts to ease the burden on families.

Takaichi promised to continue to pursue her expansionary economic policies, which have startled some investors concerned about Japan's high levels of public debt. She has long embraced the view that the government should pair big spending with aggressive monetary easing.

"The excessively tightfisted mindset and insufficient investment in the future -- this trend will end with the Takaichi Cabinet," she said.