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Japan PM Abe takes summer snap election off the table; fall poll still possible
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe does not plan to dissolve Japan's House of Representatives early for a snap election this summer, he has informed government and ruling party executives. According to several of these executives, Abe is also unreceptive to the idea of dissolving the powerful lower house at the beginning of the extraordinary Diet session this autumn, and will concentrate instead on policy to battle the recent resurgence in novel coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, some within the government are apparently pushing for a temporary cut in the consumption tax rate to give a significant boost to Japan's pandemic-battered economy. Depending on how the situation develops going forward, there remains the possibility of a general election suddenly being called sometime from the beginning of autumn onward, with the tax rate reduction as the central campaign issue.
The main proponent of the summer lower house dissolution plan was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso, who had frequent meetings with Abe from June onward to advocate for the idea. However, he apparently never got the prime minister's assent. With coronavirus cases surging again mainly in Tokyo, many in the ruling coalition urged caution, including Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, who commented, "There are things that are more important to do now than dissolve (the lower house)."
Additionally, the indictment of former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his lawmaker wife Anri for alleged election law violations during Anri's campaign for a House of Councillors' seat, and the chaos surrounding the rollout of the government's "Go To Travel" tourism promotion scheme appear to have sapped the party's desire for an early general election. Still, the prospect of an early lower house dissolution has prompted ruling party lawmakers to rev up their activities in their local constituencies across Japan. One LDP executive commented, "There will be an election sooner or later. (The possibility) has made the party tighten up internally."
Prime Minister Abe is set to reshuffle the Cabinet and the LDP's executive leadership in around September to better address the coronavirus crisis.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200725/p2a/00m/0na/002000c
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