Later the speaker of parliament read out a letter from the prime minister with the emperor’s seal, formally dissolving parliament as lawmakers shouted the traditional rallying cry of “banzai”.
The three-year government of Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida suffered record-low approval ratings due to a slush fund scandal and voter discontent over rising prices.
Polls last week gave Ishiba’s cabinet approval ratings of 45 to 50 per cent, compared with 20 to 30 per cent for the Kishida administration’s final month.
Ishiba’s backers hope the self-confessed defence “geek” and outspoken critic of the LDP establishment will boost the party’s popularity, including by persuading young people to vote.
By dissolving parliament now, the 67-year-old wants to put his party to the test before his “honeymoon” period ends, said Yu Uchiyama, a political science professor at the University of Tokyo.
“It makes sense that he wanted to call a snap election as soon as the ‘face’ of the party changed, while the momentum is still there”, he told AFP.
Uchiyama added that Ishiba also wanted to catch opposition forces flat-footed, as the LDP’s foes remain undecided about how to coordinate with each other in the election.
But the prime minister’s decision to call a snap election this early was also criticised for contradicting his previous vows to prioritise facing the opposition in parliament.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party, said Ishiba’s “hastened” decision was to avoid being grilled over the slush fund scandal.
“This made me realise once again that even with the new prime minister, our politics will neither change nor be rectified,” Noda told broadcaster NHK.
Over the weekend, Ishiba announced that the LDP would not endorse some disgraced party members implicated in the political funding scandal in the election.
The announcement reflected his desire to demonstrate to the public that he can be “strict” and “likely regained public trust in him a bit”, Uchiyama said.
