Japan’s Kishida says he won’t dissolve Diet, ending snap election talk for now By Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday he would not dissolve parliament in the coming days, after weeks of speculation he might do so to call snap elections in hopes of consolidating his power within the ruling party.

Word of Kishida’s dissolution surfaced a few weeks ago as Kishida’s support ratings soared in the days after he hosted the G7 summit in Hiroshima, his home country.

Speculation intensified as the opposition seemed poised to submit a vote of no confidence in the government, which could give Kishida reason to dissolve the House of Representatives and call an early election.

“I am not considering dissolving parliament during the current session of the Diet,” Kishida told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office. The current course ends on the 21st of June.

Asked about the opposition’s potential motion of no confidence, Kishida said he had instructed officials of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to vote against it. Any such vote would be mainly symbolic given the Liberal Party’s parliamentary majority.

And while some LDP lawmakers were in favor of an early election given the tailwinds of a rising stock market and a fragmented and weak opposition, risks have also emerged in recent days.

Criticism over issues of national identity cards has intensified and anger has been sparked by a party thrown by Kishida’s son – his former political secretary – at the prime minister’s official residence. Both positions have prompted some ruling party policymakers to call for caution about holding elections soon.

Elections for the lower house of parliament are not scheduled to take place until 2025, but Kishida faces a leadership race next year.

Japan’s main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party is preparing to submit a vote of no confidence on a bill to boost Japan’s defense capabilities. The defense law is expected to be voted on in the upper house of parliament on Friday.