Japan's PM dissolves lower house of parliament for general election

The lower house of Japan's parliament was officially dissolved on Wednesday, setting the stage for the general election as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba seeks to secure his party's lower house majority.

The general election is slated to be held on October 27, with campaigning set to begin on October 15.

Ishiba won the presidential election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on September 27 and was elected prime minister on October 1 in the parliament controlled by the LDP-led coalition.

The timing marked the shortest period between a prime minister taking office and the dissolution of the lower house in Japan's postwar history.

The general election will be the first since the LDP's political funds scandal surfaced in late 2023.

In his first policy speech to the parliament last week, 67-year-old Ishiba vowed to restore public trust in politics following a series of scandals and tried to reassure the public amid rising living costs.

In an effort to address public outrage, the LDP on Wednesday decided not to endorse 12 lawmakers embroiled in the political funds scandal as official candidates in the upcoming election.

The LDP, which ruled Japan for most of the post-war era, previously held 258 seats in the 465-member lower house, and it governed in coalition with Komeito, which held 32 seats.

The main opposition is the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan led by former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, which held 99 seats.

The election is expected to focus on key issues like political reform following the LDP's funding scandals, responses to inflation, and economic measures. Opposition parties are set to focus on undermining the LDP's dominance while coordinating among them.