A snap election is the most effective way to clear the "sense of stagnation" prevailing in Japan, Lower House reformist Yoshimi Watanabe of the Liberal Democratic Party told The Japan Times after voting Wednesday for an opposition resolution to this end.
In an interview following his renegade vote, the former minister of administrative reform did not say he would leave the LDP in a bid to form a new party. But he did say the chance of that happening was "not zero" and that he wants to be a "catalyst for political realignment."
The nonbinding resolution, submitted by the opposition-leading Democratic Party of Japan, was voted down by the LDP-New Komeito ruling bloc, which dominates the chamber. Watanabe was later reprimanded by the LDP for his action.