Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would dissolve parliament's lower house on Thursday for a snap election, as he seeks a fresh mandate to overcome "a national crisis". "I will dissolve the lower house on Sept. 28," Abe told a nationally televised news conference on Monday. "Political vacuum"Abe told LDP executives at a meeting that he intended to dissolve the lower house on Thursday. The prime minister had been expected to face a grilling over the cronyism scandals during Thursday's session, and opposition party officials saw the move as play to avoid difficult questions. Reforms adopted last year will cut the number of lower house seats to 465 from 475.

Source: bd News24 September 25, 2017 09:33 UTC