Abe may dissolve Lower House in June: Tamaki

April 17, 2018

Tokyo- Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Party of Hope, suggested Tuesday the possibility of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolving the House of Representatives at the end of the ongoing session of the Diet, set to end on June 20, for a snap election.

If Abe hopes to "fulfill his earnest desire" to have the Diet make constitutional amendment proposal to the Japanese people, "chances cannot be ruled out that he will dissolve the Lower House at the end of the current session expecting a miracle" of restoring his political strength, which has been declining due to cronyism and official document scandals, Tamaki said on radio.

"There may be a Lower House breakup like the 'kuroi kiri' (black mist) case," he added.

Tamaki was referring to the 1966 dissolution of the powerful lower chamber by then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato amid a spate of scandals hitting the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which nonetheless won the following general election.

"Opposition parties can't win elections unless they cooperate with each other," Tamaki said. "We must not mistake whom to fight."

The Party of Hope is in merger talks with the Democratic Party. The DP aimed to also involve the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, but the CDPJ, the leading opposition force in the Lower House, has rejected the motion. Jiji Press