Baku-APA. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved parliament's lower house on Friday for a snap election on Dec. 14, seeking a fresh mandate for his struggling "Abenomics" revival strategy just two years after he returned to power promising that "Japan is Back", APA reports quoting Reuters.
Abe had vowed to revive the economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, government spending and reforms, while moving ahead with plans to rein in Japan's massive public debt.
But doubts have grown about his strategy, especially after data showed this week that the economy had surprisingly slipped into recession in the third quarter after an initial rise in the sales tax to 8 percent from April.
"This is an 'Abenomics' snap election. Will 'Abenomics' go forward, or stop in its tracks? That is the question in this election," Abe told a news conference. "Are our economic policies a mistake, or are they correct? Is there really any other way? This is what we want to ask all the people."
Abe has said he would delay for 18 months a second tax hike to 10 percent that had been slated for October 2015. He pledged that the second increase, which advocates say is needed to fund the bulging social security costs of a fast-ageing population, would go ahead in April 2017.
No general election needed to be held until late 2016, and surveys show around two-thirds of voters are wondering why Abe is taking the plunge now. "The whole reason is a bit unclear, or a bit trivial," said Yutaka Watanabe, a middle-aged tourist snapping a photo of the parliament building on Friday morning.
But the prime minister hopes to cement his grip on power before his support ratings slip too far. Next year, he plans to tackle unpopular policies such as restarting reactors that went off-line after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.
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