Japan goes to the polls on Dec 14

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved Parliament’s Lower House yesterday for a snap election on Dec 14, seeking a fresh mandate for his struggling Abenomics revival strategy only two years after he returned to power promising that Japan is back.

A general election was not needed until late 2016 and surveys showed around two-thirds of voters are wondering why Mr Abe is taking the plunge now.

But Mr Abe hopes to cement his grip on power before his support ratings slip too far.

An Asahi newspaper poll published yesterday showed Mr Abe’s support fell to 39 per cent — the lowest since he took office in December 2012.

Mr Abe had vowed to revive the economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, government spending and reforms, while moving ahead with plans to rein in Japan’s massive public debt.

The election followed his decision to postpone a planned sales tax increase after data released on Monday showed the economy slipped into recession.

He is portraying the election as a referendum on the Abenomics policies and the postponement of the tax hike that had been set for next October. “This is an Abenomics snap election. Will Abenomics go forward or stop in its tracks? That is the question in this election,” Mr Abe told a news conference.

Mr Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been in power for most of the post-World War II era, may lose some seats at the election, but is likely to retain a solid majority with its coalition partner in the 480-seat Lower House, where it controls two-thirds of seats.

About 37 per cent of people said they would vote for the LDP in proportional representation districts, compared with 13 per cent who planned to vote for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Asahi poll yesterday showed. Thirty per cent were undecided.

“Unfortunately, the DPJ has not recovered to a point where we can say to voters, ‘Entrust the government to us’,” DPJ secretary-general Yukio Edano told a news conference. The Democrats were trounced in 2012 after three years in power.

Mr Edano said the DPJ wanted to give voters a choice between Mr Abe’s “trickle-down” policies that critics have said favour the rich and big firms, and the Democrats’ “bottom-up” strategy that focuses on the middle class.

Next month’s vote comes before Mr Abe has to tackle contentious issues next year that could erode support for his government, including legislation to expand Japan’s military role and restart nuclear power plants.