Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called an election a year early and will dissolve parliament on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Mr Abe said he was seeking a fresh mandate to overcome “a national crisis” amid rising threats from North Korea.<\/p>\n
His decision comes amid rebounding approval ratings after a record low over the summer and with the opposition largely in disarray.<\/p>\n
Mr Abe did not set a date for the vote but Japanese media suggest it will be on 22 October.<\/p>\n
Mr Abe’s support has surged as rising\u00a0tensions with North Korea\u00a0have overshadowed criticism of alleged cronyism.<\/p>\n
The prime minister also announced a 2tn yen ($17.8bn, \u00a313.2bn) stimulus package on education and social spending.<\/p>\n
In a press conference on Monday evening, he said the fresh stimulus was needed for programmes to prepare Japan for the future.<\/p>\n
He also said he would continue on his path of fiscal reform and would use the revenue from the recently introduced sales tax to balance the budget and reduce debt.<\/p>\n
Why snap elections?<\/strong><\/p>\n Analysts see the early vote as his way to seize the resurgent support and exploit the current weakness of the opposition.<\/p>\n For months, Mr Abe’s popular\u00a0support has been badly hit\u00a0by a string of scandals and unpopular policies.<\/p>\n In July, his ratings had dropped to less than 30% but then recovered to above 50% in September.<\/p>\n He denies allegations of cronyism and on Monday said dissolving the lower house was not an attempt at avoiding those allegations.<\/p>\n Mr Abe is also is trying to push through a controversial shift in Japan’s post-war pacifist defence policy, calling for formal recognition of the military in the constitution.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Soure: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called an election a year early and will dissolve parliament on Thursday. Mr Abe said he was seeking a fresh mandate to overcome “a national crisis” amid rising threats from North Korea. His decision comes amid rebounding approval ratings after a record low over the summer and with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[1351,1388],"yoast_head":"\n