By Todd Crowell
TOKYO
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to call a snap election next month has perplexed many of his compatriots, local media reported Friday.
A poll in the Japan Times found that 63 percent of Japanese were baffled as to why Abe would want to seek a fresh mandate on Dec. 14, midway through his current term.
Abe, elected in a landslide victory two years ago, has said he called the election to secure support for his decision to postpone raising the national sales tax from eight to ten percent next year, despite the fact that every political party favors postponing the increase.
A previous three percent rise in the tax, which came into effect in April, has been widely blamed for causing Japan's recession. According to figures released this week, the economy contracted by 1.6 percent, the second consecutive quarter of negative growth.
The risk of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party of losing its majority is seen as slight. The ruling party holds 294 seats in the 480-seat House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan’s parliament. Its coalition partner, New Komeito, adds another 31 seats to give the coalition a two-thirds majority.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference Friday, Yukio Edano, secretary-general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, said he had predicted that Abe would call an early election, though he was surprised that it came so early.
However, he predicted that 2015 will be a tough year for the government due to unpopular issues such as Abe’s desire to change the rules governing military deployment and re-starting idled nuclear power plants.
It is thought that Abe is calculating that even a reduced majority will secure his government for the next four years, rather than the two years currently remaining.
It would also put him in a strong position to win a second term as president of his party, a perquisite for being prime minister, in September.
Edano, however, believes the opposition is in better shape than the government anticipates, asserting that “we’re very unified and organized.”
He said the Democratic Party of Japan, known as the DPJ, is happy to challenge the government’s failed economic policies that have largely benefited the rich while ignoring the middle classes.
“It’s clear that Abenomics has not had any impact on people’s lives at all,” said DPJ leader Banri Kaieda, shortly after Abe dissolved parliament.
Edano would not predict how many seats the DPJ might win in the general election but tacitly conceded they will not be able to oust the Abe government. His party’s goal is to get enough seats to create a strong opposition to hold Abe to account.
“We think we can gain enough seats to do this,” he said.
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