Japan’s first female PM Takaichi calls snap election for February 8

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced her plan to dissolve the House of Representatives on Friday for a snap general election, the opening day of this year’s ordinary parliamentary session.At a press conference on Monday, Takaichi said she will put her post on the line and seek the voters’ judgment on whether she should remain Japan’s prime minister.Voting will be held on February 8, with official campaigning to start January 27.The election would be the first since Takaichi became the nation’s first female prime minister on October 21, and since her Liberal Democratic Party signed a coalition deal with the Japan-innovation-party" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="10718" data-entity-type="organization">Japan Innovation Party the day before.In the election, Takaichi will hope to capitalise on high approval ratings for her cabinet to seek a public mandate for what she terms her “responsible yet aggressive” fiscal stance and the new framework of the ruling coalition.The snap poll is set to be held less than a year and a half after the previous lower house election in October 2024. Under Japan’s Constitution, members of the lower house serve four-year terms unless it is dissolved.