Abe seizes opportunity of fractured opposition

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gestures during a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 21, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE triggered a snap election on Monday by officially announcing his intention to dissolve the lower house at the beginning of the extraordinary Diet session on Thursday. Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

The election announced by Abe at a news conference is aimed at capitalizing on the weak and fractured opposition so he retains power for another term, as polls show he has regained some support after a series of scandals and the departure of several political confidants hit his approval rating.

Since February, Abe has been haunted by political scandals, particularly his involvement in a friend's business. His support rate fell below 30 percent between June and July, a level that has prompted many of his predecessors to resign.

But after regaining ground through a cabinet reshuffle last month, Abe's approval rating has risen to more than 40 percent, which he believes is enough to crush the opposition and prolong his tenure. A recent Nikkei poll suggests that 44 percent of Japanese plan to vote for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party while only 8 percent favor the main opposition Democratic Party.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced she was creating a national political party called Party of Hope just hours before Abe's news conference. But it will take time for the new party to gain traction among voters and mount a serious challenge to Abe.

At the news conference, Abe laid out policies on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and ways to boost Abenomics that will form part of the Liberal Democratic Party's manifesto.

However, Abe risks estranging Japanese voters, as the snap election is apparently intended to whitewash his involvement in the recent scandals. His plan to revise the pacific Constitution may also be affected, should those in favor of revising the Constitution lose their two-thirds majority in both the lower and upper houses of Japanese parliament.