Abe calls for snap election in Japan, readies $18bn package

JAPAN’S Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he’ll dissolve the lower house of parliament on Thursday for a general election as he announced an $18 billion (R239bn) economic package.

At a press conference yesterday, Abe unveiled a slew of economic measures including more education spending. He said he’d pay for them with funds from a consumption tax increase originally intended to rein in the nation’s swollen debt. He also spoke about the need to keep up pressure on North Korea after Kim Jong-un’s regime fired two missiles over Japan in recent weeks.

“To increase investment in future generations, I decided today to change the way we had promised to use the sales tax,” Abe said.

“I am changing a pledge that was made to the public, and one that affects people’s livelihoods, so I must swiftly seek the will of the people.”

Voting will be set for October 22, according to three people with knowledge of his ruling coalition’s plans. Heightened tensions with North Korea have boosted Abe’s approval rating after a series of scandals, and may help him retain his coalition’s two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament.

“An election in these circumstances will also be a test of confidence in me,” Abe said, adding that he’d resign if his ruling coalition failed to get a simple majority.

Ahead of Abe’s remarks, Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike announced she would form a new national party to challenge him. Koike, a former member of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, said yesterday that her “Party of Hope” would run candidates across the nation.