A ruling bloc official suggested on Sunday the possibility of the House of Representatives being dissolved for a general election in autumn this year.
Keiichi Ishii, secretary-general of Komeito, the coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, said on a TV program aired on Sunday that public support rates could be high for the LDP president who would be chosen in the party's leadership election expected to be held in September. Dissolving the Lower House in autumn, after the election, therefore "may be the likeliest option," Ishii said.
During the TV program, which was recorded Wednesday, Ishii also said the possibility is "not zero" that the Lower House will be dissolved at the end of the current regular parliamentary session.
It depends on whether public support for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, also LDP president, will rise back after the LDP comes up with measures to prevent a recurrence of the slush funds scandal now rocking the party, Ishii said.
The ongoing parliamentary session is currently scheduled to end on June 23.