Ishiba may seek snap election if no-confidence motion submitted
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap general election if the main opposition party submits a no-confidence motion, a source close to the government leadership said Monday.
Ishiba, whose coalition holds a minority in the lower house, could take the move before any no-confidence motion is put to a vote in the chamber, the source said. If such a motion is submitted and approved, the prime minister must dissolve the lower house or the cabinet must resign en masse within 10 days.
Ishiba, who doubles as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has told his aides that "a dissolution of the House of Representatives will come in sight if a no-confidence is submitted" from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the source said.
LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama has already shared the idea with other LDP executives, the source said.
If the lower house is dissolved, the chances of holding lower- and upper-house elections at the same time may emerge. The House of Councillors election is slated for this summer, while the House of Representatives election can be held at any time before the four-year term of the current members expires in the fall of 2028.
The source said, however, that some in the government are cautious about a possible dissolution of the lower chamber at a time when Japan faces mounting challenges such as inflation, including high rice prices, and the U.S. tariff regime under President Donald Trump.
Calling a general election would create a political vacuum even under such circumstances and may encourage many voters to react strongly against the LDP-led ruling coalition, the source added.
Both the LDP-led coalition and the CDPJ fell short of the 233-seat threshold to secure a majority in the powerful lower chamber of Japan's parliament in the previous general election held in October.
Last week, the ruling coalition accepted a revision to the government's proposed pension reform plan, a key bill currently under consideration, agreeing to a CDPJ demand to ensure smooth parliamentary deliberations and enactment before the session ends on June 22.
© KYODO
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asahi Shimbun
4 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Groups plan to bring refugees to Japan for skilled work, studies
Nana Yamamoto, right foreground, and Hiroaki Ishii, left foreground, pose with Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, southeast Bangladesh. (Provided by Mobility for Humanity) Organizations are trying to bring overseas refugees to Japan to ease labor shortages, improve the economy and help Tokyo respond to international calls to do more to support displaced people around the world. The plan is to place those fleeing war or persecution into Japan's 'specified skilled worker' system or accept them as students. These routes would be outside the Japanese government system for recognizing refugee status, which is known for its low acceptance rates. The United Nations, which marked its World Refugee Day on June 20, has been calling on member states to accept more refugees in similar manners to deal with the growing humanitarian crisis. Around 1 million minority Muslim Rohingya people who have fled military-controlled Myanmar are crowded in a refugee camp in southeast Bangladesh. Nana Yamamoto, co-leader of Mobility for Humanity, a nonprofit based in Tokyo, visited the camp in April. She saw refugees taking online courses for university applications and other purposes. Refugees around 20 years old told her passionately in English that they want to enter the business world as a career, while others intend to help fellow refugees around the world. Mobility for Humanity is working on a new program to select young refugees at the camp who want to work or study in Japan. They could apply as specified skilled workers, a status-of-residence category set up in 2019 to help Japan address its labor shortages. The system allows workers under that category to become economically independent. Type 1 specified skilled workers can stay in Japan for up to five years. They can try to obtain Type 2 status with 'expert skills,' making them eligible for permanent residency. Applicants for Type 1 status must take a Japanese proficiency test and a skill test for the corresponding industrial fields. Mobility for Humanity plans to start offering training in the Japanese language and in industrial skills, particularly agriculture, at the camp as early as autumn, and have 10 or so refugees come to Japan next year. Officials of the nonprofit said they hope the refugees can continue studying Japanese in the country. They added that they plan to work with local governments, businesses and other parties to ensure respective communities will embrace the refugees in an organized manner. 'Many refugees at the camp have no future to envisage because they have no opportunities to take regular education courses or land jobs,' Yamamoto said. 'The status of specified skilled workers would certainly give them big hopes for rebuilding their lives.' She said the newcomers would be contributing to Japan not just as workers but also as taxpayers and consumers. 'I hope to help design a mechanism that would allow both parties to carve out their respective futures,' she said. SYRIANS, AFGHANS ALREADY COVERED Hiroaki Ishii, co-leader of Mobility for Humanity with Yamamoto, has also been working for Pathways Japan, a public interest incorporated foundation based in Tokyo, to bring refugees to Japan as international students. Pathways Japan and a partner group have provided free education to about 200 individuals from Syria and Afghanistan at universities and Japanese language schools in Japan since 2017. Those who have finished the corresponding programs are working for businesses and other entities as highly skilled professionals. The Japan International Cooperation Agency has also been inviting Syrians who have fled to neighboring countries as international students to Japan since fiscal 2017. More than 80 of them have arrived under the program through last fiscal year. From fiscal 2023, JICA expanded the program to cover refugees from Myanmar. Not everyone is eligible for the student program. But the specified skilled worker system is expected to further broaden the range of eligibility for admission. Japan recognized 190 individuals as refugees last year, reaching triple-digit figures for the third consecutive year. The nation has also started a system of 'complementary protection,' which is commensurate with refugee protection. However, most of the more than 10,000 refugee status applications filed every year end up being rejected. Many refugees are dying on dangerous voyages toward Europe and the United States. The United Nations adopted a Global Compact on Refugees at its General Assembly in 2018. It has been calling on member states to work with concerted efforts of the entire society, including businesses and universities, to ensure refugees' access to 'safe and lawful' pathways, such as education and employment.
Japan Today
5 hours ago
- Japan Today
Six killed in massive Russian drone, missile attack across Ukraine
Moscow has stepped up aerial strikes over recent months as US-led ceasefire talks have stalled Russia fired more than 620 drones and long-range missiles overnight, killing at least six people in the latest wave of strikes, Ukraine said Saturday, adding that it was close to an agreement to receive more Patriot air defense systems. "The Russians continue to use their specific tactics of terror against our country, striking concentrated blows at one city or another, at one region or another," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address. Moscow has stepped up aerial strikes over recent months as U.S.-led ceasefire talks have stalled. "Twenty-six cruise missiles and 597 attack drones were launched, of which more than half were 'Shaheds'," Zelenskyy said, referring to Iranian-made drones. The Ukrainian air force said it had downed 319 Shahed drones and 25 missiles, adding that one missile and about 20 drones had hit "five locations". Zelenskyy said the strikes had killed at least two people and wounded 20 in the southwestern Chernivtsi region, far from the front lines of the east and south. Twelve people were wounded in Lviv, also in the west, while in the east, two people died in Dnipropetrovsk and three were wounded in Kharkiv, local officials said. Russia also "dropped two guided aerial bombs on the homes of civilians" in the northeastern Sumy region killing two, the local prosecutors office said. Zelenskyy said that some of the drones sent by Russia had been "simulators" intended to "overload the air defense system and make it more difficult to shoot down the 'suicide drones'. This is their deliberate and despicable terror." The Russian defense ministry said it had targeted companies in Ukraine's military-industrial complex in Lviv, Kharkiv and Lutsk and a military aerodrome. In a video message, Zelenskyy said "we are close to reaching a multi-level agreement on new Patriot systems and missiles for them". Ukraine was stepping up production of its own interceptor systems, he added. U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg is due to begin his latest visit to Ukraine on Monday as a Washington-led peace effort flounders. U.S. President Donald Trump also said he would make a "major statement... on Russia" on Monday. On Friday, the Kremlin restated its opposition to a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron said Kyiv's allies had a plan "ready to go... in the hours after a ceasefire". Trump called Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week but said afterwards that there had been no progress towards ending the war. The Kremlin said Putin would not give up on Russia's war goals but would nonetheless continue to take part in negotiations. Moscow says its aim in Ukraine is to get rid of the "root causes" of the conflict and has demanded that Kyiv give up its NATO ambitions. Washington's announcement earlier this month that it would pause some armament deliveries to Ukraine was a blow to Kyiv, which is reliant on Western military support. On Saturday, Zelenskyy urged his Western allies to send "more than just signals" to stop the war launched by Russia in February 2022. "The pace of Russian air strikes requires swift decisions and it can be curbed right now through sanctions," he said on social media. Zelenskyy specifically demanded penalties for those who "help Russia produce drones and profit from oil". Oil exports are important for the Russian economy especially in the face of existing Western sanctions. Sanctions imposed on Russia -- the world's largest fertilizer producer -- after the invasion spared its grain and fertilizer exports. But prices skyrocketed, fueling fears of food insecurity. The United Nations signed a deal with Russia in July 2022 to facilitate exports of food and fertilizer to limit global price increases. But on Friday, it said the accord would not be renewed when it expires on July 22. Russia has repeatedly complained the agreement does little to protect it from secondary sanction effects. © 2025 AFP
Yomiuri Shimbun
10 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Key Campaign Pledges Carry Issue of Fiscal Resources; Concerns Rise over Handout, Tax Cut Funding Sources
For the House of Councillors election to be held on July 20, parties have put forward key campaign promises such as consumption tax rate cuts, cash handouts and reductions in social insurance premiums. They are touting the effectiveness of these measures as ways to combat high prices and revitalize the nation's economy. However, there are many issues to be addressed, such as securing the necessary funding and processes to implement such measures, but the debate has not yet deepened. Difficult to cover shortfalls 'Prices are rising, and smiles are disappearing from the dinner table. To restore them, we will temporarily abolish food items' consumption tax. We will implement responsible tax cuts,' Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda said during a campaign speech in front of JR Gifu Station on Friday. Lowering the consumption tax rate on food items to zero would result in a ¥5 trillion shortfall in tax revenue over one year, while lowering the consumption tax rate to 5% on all items would result in a ¥15 trillion shortfall. Abolishing the consumption tax entirely would result in a ¥30 trillion shortfall. The CDPJ has showed its policy to use surplus from national reserves funds and the Foreign Exchange Fund Special Account to cover the ¥5 trillion shortfall, and made this clear in its campaign pledge. But the Liberal Democratic Party has expressed skepticism over the idea, with LDP Election Strategy Committee Chairperson Seiji Kihara saying, 'There are funds in the reserves that cannot be tapped, such as those designated for decarbonization initiatives and the semiconductor field.' Part of the funds for the foreign exchange special account have already been allocated for the enhancement of defensive strength. A senior Finance Ministry official emphasized, 'If the special account is used as if it were a magic wand, we would be unable to manage when actual foreign exchange intervention is needed.' Outperformed tax revenue 'We won't make empty promises as a makeshift,' Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also the LDP president, criticized pledges of consumption tax cuts during a campaign speech in Sendai on Friday. Even a pledge by the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito to provide ¥20,000 to most adults and ¥40,000 per child or per adult in households exempt from resident tax, in cash payments, would need more than ¥3 trillion. But fiscal resources for such a measure remain unclear. The LDP explains it does not seek issuance of deficit-covering bonds for the cash provision, and it will instead use the outperformed portion of the fiscal 2025 tax revenue. However, tax revenue is subject to economic conditions and therefore volatile. Moreover, half of the retained earnings after the fiscal year budget are closed, including outperformed tax revenue, and are required by law to be allocated for debt repayment. In fiscal 2024, the other half of the ¥2.2 trillion retained earnings were allocated to defense spending. In reality, there is little leeway to allocate funds for other purposes. The Democratic Party for the People and Reiwa Shinsengumi accept the idea of issuing deficit-covering bonds. But with long-term interest rates continuing to rise, interest payments on government bonds are expected to swell further, leaving a heavy burden on future generations. Burden on local governments Both tax cuts and cash provisions face challenges in terms of institutional design. The CDPJ is proposing a consumption tax cut starting in April next year, but in addition to the need to revise tax-related laws in the Diet, Ishiba said it will take 'one year' to make necessary modifications including changes to cash register systems used in stores and other outlets. Meanwhile, the government and ruling parties aim to get a supplementary budget approved to fund the handouts at the extraordinary session of the Diet in the autumn, with plans to begin disbursement by the end of the year by utilizing banking or postal saving accounts linked to personal identification My Numbers to receive public funds. However, as of the end of May, only 65% of individuals had registered for public funds receipt accounts. Every time the central government implements a cash provision program, such as the ¥100,000 handout to all citizens in 2020, local governments tasked to carry out the actual provision have faced a significant administrative burden. This time as well, concerns have emerged among local governments. 'The workload will not decrease, but rather will only increase,' Chiba Gov. Toshihito Kumagai said.
