Prime Minister dissolves parliament

 

 

Last Friday, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, in power since August 2011, dissolved parliament. The general election is scheduled for December 16 and Mr. Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), is expected to lose. This dissolution was promised by the Prime Minister to the opposition during tax negotiations.

Mr Noda is facing the ex-Prime Minister Mr. Abe, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which led Japan from World War II to 2009, is expected to win most of the 480 seats.

The JPD has lost the confidence of the population because of its handling of the Fukushima crises and its decision to increase sales taxes while Mr. Abe tries to connect with the Japanese.

According to recent polls, almost half of the voters are still undecided, suggesting that the next government could be a coalition.

Lucie

Sources :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20352448

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/yoshihiko_noda/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/15/japan-pm-to-dissolve-parliament-call-december-elections-seen-producing-no-clear/