Japan’s new leader dissolves parliament

Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has dissolved the lower house of parliament, paving the way for Oct. 31 national elections, Report informs referring to Euronews.

Kishida said he is seeking the public’s mandate for his policies after being elected prime minister by parliament only 10 days ago to replace Yoshihide Suga.

Tadamori Oshima, the speaker of the more powerful lower chamber, announced the dissolution at a plenary session.

The last lower house election was held in 2017 under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the election campaign is scheduled to kick off on October 19, and elections to the Representatives’ House of Parliament will be held on October 31. The last elections to the House of Representatives of the Japanese Parliament, which has more influence than the upper chamber of the Parliament when deciding on the draft state budget or the election of the prime minister, were held on October 22, 2017.