Japan: New prime minister dissolves lower house of parliament in preparation for early elections

New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved the lower house of Parliament today in preparation for early elections on October 27.

He will seek voter support for his "nine-day government" in the elections.

Namely, Ishiba assumed the prime ministership last Sunday after the resignation of Fumi Kishida, who led the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for three years while it was affected by corruption scandals.

With early elections, Ishiba is seeking to secure a majority in the lower house of parliament for his ruling party while it is still early and before favorable sentiment towards him fades.

Ishiba has been criticized for prioritizing elections over politics and leaving little room for debate. But Japan's opposition remains too fragmented to oust the ruling party.

Ishiba announced plans for early elections even before winning an intra-party vote to become prime minister. His government plans to officially announce the date of the election later today and the start of the campaign next Tuesday.

The president of the lower house of parliament, Fukushiro Nikaga, announced at the plenary session that this house, the more powerful of the two houses of parliament, is being dissolved. All 465 deputies stood up to greet the announcement and ran out of the hall.

"We will act in a fair way to get the people's approval for the current administration," Ishiba told reporters.

Ishiba stressed that although the lower house of parliament has been dissolved, the Japanese government must be fully functional and take care of national security, natural disasters and deflation.

"We dedicate our soul and body to the people," said Ishiba.

He will hold another press conference later today before leaving for Laos for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.