TOKYO : Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida today, April 24, said he is not considering about dissolving the lower house of parliament for a snap election, a day after his Liberal Democratic Party won parliamentary by-elections in 4 of 5 seats.
"As we have to carry out key policies one by one, I am not thinking of dissolution and a general poll at present," Kishida told reporters at his office.
There has been rumors that Fumio Kishida may have been planning to call an election after the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May amid improvement in approval ratings for his cabinet, reports read.
On Sunday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Kishida secured four of the five seats up for grabs in parliamentary by-elections, while the opposition Japan Innovation Party won one.
The Liberal Democratic Party beat opposition party candidates in 3 constituencies of the House of Representatives, or the lower house, and one constituency of the House of Councillors, the upper house.
Japan Innovation Party defeated the Liberal Democratic Party to newly secure a lower house seat, while the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lost in all three constituencies where it fielded official candidates.
Liberal Democratic Party candidates also took both by-elections in Yamaguchi Prefecture. In the prefecture’s No. 4 district, Shinji Yoshida won the race to fill late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s seat, with an easy victory over Yoshifu Arita of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
In the No. 2 district, Nobuchiyo Kishi beat veteran opposition lawmaker Hideo Hiraoka. Kishi is the son of former Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, who stepped down due to illness and is also the brother of Abe.
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