Prime Minister Taro Aso finally dissolved the Lower House on Tuesday for a snap election Aug. 30. In the election, the voters will make clear whether they want a government led by the Liberal Democratic Party or by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. Thus the election will have a great impact on the future course of the nation.
Mr. Aso is the third prime minister in a row to have come to power without a voters' mandate, after Mr. Shinzo Abe and Mr. Yasuo Fukuda. Mr. Aso's quality as a prime minister has come into question because of his flip-flops on policy matters, including the ¥2 trillion cash stimulus distributed to people and the reorganization of the health and welfare ministry.
To quell a move within the LDP to drag him from power, Mr. Aso had planned to dissolve the Lower House immediately after the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. The LDP's crushing defeat in the election further fueled anti-Aso sentiment, forcing him to delay the dissolution.