WEB DESK
Japanese media on Sunday speculated that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to dissolve the Lower House of parliament as early as Sept. 28 and call a snap election to take advantage of a disorganized opposition.
Major media outlets, including Kyodo News, Asahi Shimbun, NHK and Sankei Shimbun, all reported that Abe is considering dissolving the powerful Lower House soon and would call a general election next month, possibly on Oct. 22 or 29.
Abe is likely to decide on a specific date for the election after returning to Japan from a diplomatic tour to New York on Sept. 22, the reports said, quoting unnamed sources in the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition.
The reports prompted three opposition parties — the Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party and Liberal Party — to cancel a planned meeting of their top leaders Sunday.
DP President Seiji Maehara had reportedly been considering forming a joint parliamentary group with the other two parties at the meeting, but it was abruptly canceled, with the DP now looking to prioritize preparations for a possible Lower House poll, a party source said.
Rumors had circulated in recent weeks among the political elite that Abe would dissolve the Lower House on Sept. 28, when an extraordinary session of the Diet is scheduled to start.
“All the Lower House members now have come to believe that the timing (of a general election) is not so distant,” LDP General Council chairman Wataru Takeshita said Saturday during a party meeting in the city of Tokushima,reports Japan Times.