Abe meets with Komeito leader to discuss election

September 18, 2017

TOKYO- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi on Monday to discuss an expected imminent dissolution of the House of Representatives for a snap general election.

During the 15-minute talks at Abe's private home in Tokyo, Abe, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's president, conveyed his plan to dissolve the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, as early as Sept. 28, when an extraordinary Diet session is slated to begin, informed sources said.

Abe also told Yamaguchi that he is mainly considering holding the poll on Oct. 22 after starting an official campaign period on Oct. 10, according to the sources.

Yamaguchi accepted Abe's election plan, the sources also said.

Senior officials of the LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, will hold talks soon to start preparations for the election.

Abe told reporters that he will decide whether to dissolve the Lower House after returning home on Friday night from his trip to New York. He made this remark just before his departure on Monday.

After his meeting with Yamaguchi, Abe met with LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai and instructed him to make preparations for the election. They also exchanged views on a new political party that Lower House lawmaker Masaru Wakasa, a close aide to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, and other people aim to set up. Jiji Press