Japan Parties Speed Up Preparations for Possible General Election

Tokyo, Jan. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japanese political parties are speeding up preparations for a possible general election that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is reportedly considering. On Tuesday, senior officials of Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki and Election Strategy Committee Chairman Keiji Furuya, met at the party’s headquarters to discuss steps to take if the prime minister dissolves the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, for a snap election. “We’ll swiftly fill party candidate vacancies in constituencies,” said one of the meeting’s participants. On the same day, the LDP instructed its prefectural chapters to report their planned candidates for the Lower House by Monday. Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of the Japan Innovation Party, the LDP’s coalition partner, told reporters that he believes Takaichi has decided to dissolve the Lower House. Yoshimura said that the JIP will aim to maintain the ruling bloc’s majority in the Lower House, but that there was no need to coordinate constituency candidates with the LDP. Yoshihiko Noda, head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is exploring the possibility of electoral cooperation with Komeito, which left the LDP-led ruling bloc after Takaichi became LDP president. CDP Secretary-General Jun Azumi has instructed the party’s prefectural chapters to request support from Komeito and its support base, the lay Buddhist group Soka Gakkai. Yuichiro Tamaki, chief of the Democratic Party for the People, said his party will accelerate work to select candidates. Meanwhile, he expressed reluctance to cooperate with the CDP, saying, “Coordination without a proper reason would lead to fewer seats.” Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito told reporters that the party will thoroughly prepare and seek results. He added that the party will reach a conclusion on whether to field candidates for constituency seats as early as this week. Also on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara informed the steering committees of both Diet chambers that this year’s ordinary Diet session will be convened on Jan. 23. In light of the possibility of a Lower House dissolution, the ruling bloc did not propose schedules for policy speeches by the prime minister and others. The ordinary session will run for 150 days through June 21. If the Lower House is dissolved, a special Diet session would be convened within 30 days of the subsequent election. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]