New LDP Leader Ishiba Announces Dissolution of Lower House; Snap Election Scheduled to Take Place Oct. 27 (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:03 JST, September 30, 2024 (updated at 16:30 JST)

Shigeru Ishiba, the newly elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party, said Monday that he intends to announce the dissolution of the House of Representatives for a snap election during an extraordinary Diet session to be convened on Tuesday.

The election is scheduled to be held on Oct. 27, with official campaigning to start on Oct. 15.

Also Monday, the LDP officially decided on personnel appointments and launched its new executive. The leaders of the LDP and Komeito later met to sign an agreement on the coalition government.

“It is important to have a public verdict on the new administration as soon as possible,” Ishiba said at a press conference on Monday afternoon when announcing the date of the snap election.

Asked why he announced the dissolution before being appointed prime minister, Ishiba said he did so out of consideration for the preparations that needed to be made by election administration commissions and other entities across the nation.

Ishiba also expressed his intention to hold debates with the leaders of other political parties in the Diet. “I will make a policy speech and conduct subsequent question-and-answer sessions appropriately,” he said. “I will continue to make efforts to provide what will help the people make their decision.”

After being appointed prime minister during Tuesday’s extraordinary Diet session, Ishiba is set to launch a new cabinet on the same day. He is expected to deliver a policy speech on Friday, hold question-and-answer sessions with the leaders of other parties on Oct. 7-8 and dissolve the lower house on Oct. 9.

Following the dissolution, Ishiba is scheduled to attend a summit and other related meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos on Oct. 10-11.

LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairperson Yasukazu Hamada met with Hirofumi Ryu, his counterpart in the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in the Diet Building on Monday. Hamada proposed that the extraordinary Diet session end on Oct. 9, which effectively means that the lower house will be dissolved on that day.

On Monday afternoon, the LDP’s new executive appointments were approved at an extraordinary meeting of the General Council. Hiroshi Moriyama, 79, chairperson of the General Council, was appointed as secretary general to succeed Toshimitsu Motegi.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, 71, was named the chairperson of the General Council, while former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, 64, was appointed as the chairperson of the Policy Research Council.

Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, took the post of the chairperson of the Election Strategy Committee, and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, 75, became the party’s vice president.

Meanwhile, LDP Vice President Taro Aso, 84, was given the post of the party’s top adviser. Ishiba also appointed Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tetsushi Sakamoto, 73, as chairperson of the Diet Affairs Committee; and election strategy chief Yuko Obuchi, 50, as head of the Party Organization and Campaign Headquarters.

Takuya Hirai, 66, retained the post of chief of the Public Relations Headquarters.

On Monday afternoon, Ishiba met with Keiichi Ishii, who became leader of LDP’s junior coalition partner Komeito on Saturday. The two party leaders signed an agreement on the coalition government calling for political reform and measures to deal with issues such as rising prices.

Following the announcement of the lower house’s dissolution, the LDP is hurrying to prepare for the election. On Friday, the party’s headquarters notified prefectural chapters nationwide that they should file applications for their prospective candidates by Oct. 7.