Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tells reporters on June 15 that he will not dissolve the Lower House during the current ordinary Diet session. (Koichi Ueda)

In an unusual announcement, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida clearly stated on June 15 that he would not dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election during the current ordinary Diet session.

Although the Kishida Cabinet’s support ratings have risen since he hosted the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May, other political factors of concern likely led him to hold off on dissolving the Lower House for now.

For one thing, junior coalition partner Komeito has decided not to back candidates of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party running in single-seat districts in Tokyo in the next Lower House election.

Komeito faced LDP opposition about running a candidate in a new district in the capital that will be established through reapportionment for the next election.

Although Komeito officials made clear the measure was limited to Tokyo and did not mean the party was planning to leave the coalition, some LDP lawmakers raised concerns that Komeito could withdraw its support across the nation.

The recent rash of glitches concerning the Individual Number Card system, popularly known as My Number Card, might have also led Kishida to hesitate about calling an election.

Kishida had been a major backer of using the card over a wider range of administrative services.

In addition, the revelation that Kishida’s eldest son, Shotaro, held a year-end party for relatives at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo was an embarrassment for the administration.

Upper House committees on June 15 passed all remaining major legislation, assuring Diet passage before the June 21 end of the current session.

That means there is no need for the threat of a Lower House dissolution to pressure the opposition to accept the passage of important bills.

Kishida told reporters on June 15 that he had instructed LDP executives to quickly vote down the no-confidence motion that the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan was planning to submit on June 16.

On June 16, the opposition Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) and Democratic Party for the People joined the ruling coalition in voting against the motion, leading to an even larger humiliating defeat for the CDP.

Some CDP lawmakers had suggested that a snap election would help the party maintain its position as the main opposition party because its main rival, Nippon Ishin, was still far from its stated goal of running a candidate in all 289 single-seat Lower House districts.

Under that situation, the CDP might have clung to its position as main opposition party.

But with the dissolution held off, Nippon Ishin will now have more time to persuade others to become party candidates and jump on the bandwagon for the next Lower House election.

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