A sense of deja vu as Japan readies for snap polls

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) elects a new leader, who promptly calls a general election as one of his first acts in power.

- Walter Sim

That was in October 2021, when Mr Fumio Kishida took charge.

On Oct 1, the 67-year-old formally resigned after 1,094 days in office, making him Japan's eighth-longest-serving post-war leader.

And, in a case of deja vu, a general election will also be called in October under Mr Kishida's successor, Mr Shigeru Ishiba, also 67, who was sworn in as Japan's 102nd prime minister on Oct 1.

History is repeating itself but with one key difference: Mr Kishida had no choice with the general election – he was constitutionally bound to hold it by the end of October 2021 as lawmakers' terms were set to expire.

But Mr Ishiba has a choice. In a quirk of Japan's political calendar, party leaders have three-year tenures, while the Lower House runs in maximum four-year cycles. This means that a general election is due only by October 2025.

His announcement on Sept 30 of the Oct 27 snap election surprised many as it came even before he was anointed as prime minister and while Mr Kishida was still in office, albeit as a lame-duck leader.

Mr Ishiba's newly formed Cabinet will be only eight days old when the Lower House is dissolved on Oct 9. His ministers will be reappointed to their roles in the hopeful event that they keep their seats in an election where the LDP is, for now, widely expected to be returned with a large majority.

He said the premature announcement was necessary to "give election officials time to get ready", although this move has been nothing short of divisive.

This is evident in how the Diet, as Japan's Parliament is called, dissolved into sheer pandemonium on Oct 1 when such an event would ordinarily have been a drama-free, open-and-shut affair.