TOKYO, Jan 23, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will dissolve parliament on Friday ahead of a snap election on February 8, counting on her cabinet's high poll numbers to steer her otherwise unpopular ruling party to victory. The ruling coalition of Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) has only a slim majority in the powerful lower chamber. "It's not clear if high public support for the Takaichi cabinet will actually lead to support of the LDP," Hidehiro Yamamoto, politics professor at the University of Tsukuba, told AFP. Public discontent over rising prices largely contributed to the downfall of Shigeru Ishiba, whom Takaichi succeeded in October. - Centrist alliance -The LDP has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for decades, albeit with frequent leader changes.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha January 23, 2026 03:41 UTC