TRANSCRIPT
Less than three months after winning the parliament's vote, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wants the public's endorsement, too.
At a Tokyo press conference on Monday evening, she announced plans to trigger an early election.
“To the people of Japan. As the prime minister, today I have decided to dissolve the House of Representatives on 23 January. I stake my position as prime minister on this decision. I ask the people of Japan to directly judge whether they can entrust the governance of the nation to Sanae Takaichi.”
Her announcement sets the country on a rapid course to elections.
Ms Takaichi will formally dissolve the parliament on Friday.
Campaigning will officially begin next Wednesday, and then, after just 11 days, Japan will go the polls on the 8th of February.
The Prime Minister is hoping to convert her surging approval rating of 78 per cent into a lower house majority, after her Liberal Democratic Party lost control of both houses of parliament for the first time in its history.
Ms Takaichi's tough talk on immigration, and her refusal to back down from a growing feud with China, resonating particularly well with the party's conservative base - and with some voters reacting to her announcement on the streets of Tokyo.
“Japan is not a country that was established yesterday or today. It is not a country of immigrants. Valuing the people of Japan, I believe, is something Takaichi can do. I hope she does it.”
But with the economy slowing and prices soaring, the number one issue on the minds of most voters is the cost of living.
Ms Takaichi has promised to suspend an eight per cent food levy for the next two years if she is re-elected.
But some voters are already saying that is not enough.
“Honestly, I think a more balanced policy would be necessary. The idea of making the consumption tax on food zero, which has been reported on TV, is something both the ruling and opposition parties are saying. It feels like there are no other options left. Especially with such a short election campaign of just two weeks, I feel like it is not possible to have a calm discussion, and that makes me very uneasy.”
The other big question is whether her popularity as a leader will extend to the party.
The LDP has been battling a slush-fund scandal in recent years, and Ms Takaichi has given several of those involved key positions in her government.
Kanda University Japanese Studies Lecturer Jeffrey Hall says it won't be easy.
“She's doing basically the opposite of reform. She is bringing back scandal-tainted lawmakers, some of whom lost their elections in 2024. She's letting these scandal-tainted politicians have major positions in her party.”
The other main challenge will be a new centrist alliance formed by Japan's two largest opposition parties.
That includes Komeito, which was until recently the LDP's junior coalition partner.
Mr Hall says they will be appealing directly to voters who feel Ms Takaichi is taking the party too far to the right.
“The worst case scenario is that Takaichi loses seats for the LDP, and it's very possible. With the political configuration of opposition parties having changed so much, it's very difficult to predict how a lot of these races are going to go. And one of the most stable voting blocs in the country are the Komeito voters, and she lost them.”
Sanae Takaichi became the country's fifth prime minister in as many years last October.
If her gamble fails, the country may once again find itself with a new leader.
