Japanese Prime Minister dissolves parliament before elections at the end of the month – Observer

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba this Wednesday dissolved the lower house of the Diet, the Japanese parliament, ahead of general elections scheduled for the 27th of this month.

The measure will come into force after the speaker of the Japanese parliament, Fukushiro Nukaga, reads Emperor Naruhito’s decree, ordering the dissolution of the legislature and the holding of elections.

A dissolution, which will kick off the election campaign on October 15, comes eight days after Ishiba, the new leader of Japan’s ruling party, was appointedon October 1st, prime minister of the country, replacing Fumio Kishida.

Ishiba, 67, whose party holds a large parliamentary majority, was elected with 291 votes in favordefeating eight candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party (PDL, conservative) primaries.

After the appointment, Ishiba announced the composition of the government, which includes 20 ministers with an average age of 63.5 years and just two women.

Ishiba was previously Minister of Defense and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, as well as secretary-general of the PDL.