Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday dissolved the powerful lower house of parliament halfway through his four-year term for snap elections in December to seek public support for his economic policies dubbed “Abenomics”.
This week, official data showed Japan’s economy, the world’s third-largest, unexpectedly fell into recession amid sluggish consumer demand following a controversial hike in the sales tax on April 1 to 8% from 5%.
Abe says he has decided to call early elections because he wants to see how Japanese people will respond to his economic policies A survey conducted by the Kyodo News agency shows 63.1% those polled do not support Abe’s decision to hold fresh polls, while 30.5% favour the move.
Analysts believe Abe seeks to head the government longer term, and wants to solidify the power base before he is expected to face a series of difficulties next year.
The premier’s economic policies rest on fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.
Japanese exporters have been taken advantage of a falling yen, but the depreciation of the currency has driven up import costs, which hurts consumers along with the sales tax hike.
A government report shows household income has declined 6% from a year earlier in September for the 12th consecutive month of fall, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average has gained about 72% since Abe took office.
The premier will also face some unpopular events in 2015. One of them is the restart of nuclear reactors near an active volcano in southern Japan amid strong public opposition.
As Japan marks the 70th anniversary of its surrender in World War II next year, historical tensions with neighbouring countries such as China and South Korea may reignite.
Seoul has already urged Tokyo to resolve the issue of the Japanese military’s wartime sexual slavery in connection with the occasion. Many of the victims were Korean women.
Abe has not held a one-on-one meeting with South Korean President Park Geun Hye since both took office amid tensions over a territorial spat and differing views of wartime history, including the sexual slavery issue.
Abe, however, was able to hold his first official talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping for 25 minutes on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Beijing earlier this month.
“I don’t think Abe would be able to take a tough stance any longer against China especially after seeing warmer ties between China and the US,” Japan’s important ally, though he has gained power by harshly criticising Beijing, Seoul and Pyongyang, according to Minoru Morita, a Tokyo-based analyst.
Little progress has been seen in the issue of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese citizens though Pyongyang promised six months ago to reinvestigate the fate of more than a dozen Japanese nationals abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.
The premier “has come to realise there has been a fall in Japan’s international status, so he wants a fresh mandate to gain respect from the international community”, Morita believes.
