Speculation continues to mount that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may once again dissolve the Lower House for a snap election, as early as January. After winning all national elections since 2012 by landslides for his ruling coalition, Abe might be tempted to think that another electoral gambit will further cement his grip on power and help him secure an extended tenure at the government's helm. However, he should ponder whether yet another election is in the interests of voters — especially if it's to be held with the disparity in the value of votes between constituencies uncorrected. He should think twice about resorting to the polls merely for his administration's convenience and partisan interests.

Dissolving the Lower House halfway through its members' tenure has long been considered a key prerogative of the prime minister, who can hold an election at the most favorable political tide for the ruling party to maximize its performance at the polls. The prime minister is justified in lying about plans to hold a snap election. Abe said recently he has no such plans — although he added he will make an appropriate judgment at each turn of events. Leaders of his Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition ally Komeito have urged their lawmakers to brace for an imminent election.

Abe last dissolved the Lower House for a snap election in December 2014 — just two years after the preceding campaign in 2012 — catching the splintered opposition parties off guard and returning the LDP-Komeito alliance to a two-thirds majority in the chamber. Conventional wisdom tells Lower House members to be ready for an election once their four-year tenure passes the midway point. Abe confessed prior to the Upper House election in July that he had considered dissolving the Lower House for a simultaneous election of both chambers. That plan never materialized — but speculation persisted that he would not wait too much longer.