Japan's lower house dissolved for early snap election next month

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the lower house of Parliament on Friday, paving the way for a February 8th snap election.

The dissolution of the 465-member lower house paves the way for a 12-day campaign that officially starts Tuesday.

Takaichi's plan for an early election aims to capitalise on her popularity to expand a governing majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan's two-chamber Parliament.

The scandal-tainted Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition have a slim majority in the more powerful lower house after an election loss in 2024.

The coalition does not have a majority in the upper house and relies on winning votes from opposition members to pass its agenda.

As Japan's first female leader, Takaichi has been in office only three months, but she has seen strong approval ratings of about 70 percent.

Takaichi is also seeing rising animosity with Beijing since she made pro-Taiwan remarks.