Prime Minister Kishida Announces "Hundreds of Trillions in Economic Policies"... First General Election in 4 Years

Strategy to Win Election by Riding High Cabinet Approval Ratings Early in Tenure

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Fumio Kishida, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Japan, announced that if he gains the trust of the people in the election, he will prioritize implementing economic policies worth tens of trillions of yen (approximately hundreds of trillions of won) just ten days after dissolving the House of Representatives and declaring a general election.

According to NHK on the 14th, Prime Minister Kishida stated at a press conference held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence following the announcement of the dissolution of the House of Representatives, "I hope the people will choose who and which administration can create a society where each citizen can live a prosperous life," revealing his plan.

Regarding the general election held for the first time in four years, Prime Minister Kishida emphasized, "This is an election to choose the future after COVID-19." He said, "The biggest concern of the people is the coronavirus, and the response to the current situation and future overcoming measures are major issues."

He continued, "We must quickly proceed with the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the general election process to concretize key policies and devise measures against COVID-19 and the economy," adding, "Immediately after the House of Representatives election, we will establish comprehensive and bold economic measures."

On this day, Prime Minister Kishida carried out the sudden dissolution of the House of Representatives just 11 days after his inauguration. The general election, the first in four years since October 2017, is scheduled for the 31st of this month.

The Liberal Democratic Party currently holds 276 seats (210 constituency seats and 66 proportional representation seats), which is 59.4% of the 465 seats in the House of Representatives. The coalition partner Komeito holds 29 seats (8 constituency seats and 21 proportional representation seats).

Local media analyzed that Prime Minister Kishida planned to recreate his administration through the general election based on the high cabinet approval rating in the early days of his tenure.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.