Japan's Abe announces plan to dissolve lower house for snap election

Ichiro Ozawa, representative of the Liberal Party, said that the prime minister's sudden decision to dissolve the lower house is groundless, and is making a fool of the people and a mockery of democracy.

Seiji Mataichi, secretary general of Social Democratic Party, said that the prime minister is abusing his power to dissolve the lower house for his own agenda.

Abe's platform of using revenue generated by the consumption tax hike for welfare policies instead of paying debt, has also raised concerns over further deterioration of Japan's fiscal health, with the nation's debt already twice the size of its gross domestic product.

Abe admitted at the press conference that achieving primary budget surplus in fiscal 2020, a long-standing target for the government, will be difficult.

He then unveiled a plan for the government to compile a policy package worth 2 trillion yen (18 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of this year to boost support for child care and education, saying that fostering human resources and improving productivity would be two pillars of his cabinet's policies.

The policy package would include measures to make preschool education and day care services free for children aged between three and five and reduce the financial burdens for higher education, according to Abe.

Local analysts warned that increased social spendings would make the long-standing goal of achieving a primary budget surplus by fiscal 2020 impossible.

There have also been criticisms saying that Abe tries to stay in power regardless of the risks of creating a political vacuum at a time of rising geopolitical tensions over the Korea Peninsula.