Even if Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolves the Lower House and calls an election, before a poll can be held he must rectify a major constitutional problem: the vote-value disparity in the Lower House.
Since the Supreme Court ruled last year that vote-value disparities of up to 2.3 in the 2009 general election were "in a state of unconstitutionality," little progress has been made to mend the imbalance.
The situation is deadlocked in the Diet, mainly because the Liberal Democratic Party is demanding that Noda, whose public support is sagging, dissolve the lower chamber for a snap election. The LDP, the largest opposition force, is meanwhile strongly against the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's bills to address the vote disparity.