She is making it official now as she announces that she will be calling a snap election on 23 January. That is when the next ordinary Diet session takes place, in which she will dissolve the lower house of parliament. Takaichi also adds that she will be asking for a mandate to continue as prime minister of Japan.
The likely dates for the snap election are either 8 February or 15 February at this point. All this so as to leave some room for lawmakers and policymakers to come together to deliver on the budget in March. Update: Takaichi confirms that she will call for a snap election on 8 February.
She reaffirms that her administration will be putting an end to excessively tight fiscal policy, while also tackling high prices. She can lay out any reasons she wants to justify calling for a snap election here. However, it is clear that the power play is all about power consolidation.
As mentioned before:
“So, why is Takaichi planning this move here?
It’s mostly to shore up support and increase the number of ruling coalition seats while her support ratings remain high. All that of course before opposition lawmakers start piling on the questions on her policy setting when the Diet session begins. And the ongoing feud between Japan and China won’t make things easy for her, as it offers up free ammunition for other lawmakers to question her leadership.”
