2009/06/25 11:08(JST)In Japanese politics, all eyes are on when Prime Minister Taro Aso will dissolve the Lower House and call a general election. Aso is trying to determine when is best to call the election that must be held by October.
Prime Minister Aso said on Wednesday that he will be the one to make the decision on the right timing for the dissolution of the powerful lower chamber.
One possibility is before the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election scheduled for July 12th. But senior members of the main governing party are opposed to that option.
The Liberal Democratic Party's Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda says 2 key bills now under deliberation must be passed through the Diet, but that won't happen before July 12th.
Former LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe says the general election should be put off to as close as possible to September 10th, when the terms of the incumbent Lower House lawmakers end.
Conversely, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is believed to have asked Aso on Wednesday evening to call a snap election at an early date.
Some lawmakers close to Prime Minister Aso are calling for a cabinet reshuffle before the dissolution to strengthen Aso's unifying force. They fear that upcoming local election results, including the ones in Tokyo, could lead LDP lawmakers to force the prime minister from power.
The latest NHK opinion poll shows support for Prime Minister Aso slipping to 29 percent and the disapproval rate rising to 60 percent.
2009/06/25 11:08(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
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