Tokyo [Japan], February 7 (ANI): As the general election for the lower house in Japan is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 8, the political leaders in the country are making their final appeals to voters on Saturday, which will determine whether the country's first woman Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, secures a mandate for her policies and the newly formed ruling coalition framework, Kyodo News reported.
According to Kyodo News, the election comes amid concerns that heavy snowfall forecast across large parts of Japan on Sunday could affect voter turnout.
Prime Minister Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), are seeking to secure a combined majority in the powerful lower house, also known as the House of Representatives, in the National Diet.
Opinion polls indicate the ruling coalition is poised for a decisive victory, according to Kyodo News.
Addressing supporters in Tokyo during the final day of the 12-day campaign, Takaichi, who became Japan's first woman PM in October, said that years of excessive fiscal austerity and inadequate future-orientated investment had weakened the country's growth potential.
"Japan still has enough room to grow because we have strong technology," Takaichi said, as quoted by Kyodo News, pledging large-scale tax incentives for capital expenditure to stimulate domestic investment.
Seen as favouring expansionary fiscal policies, Takaichi has previously described a weak yen as a "major opportunity" for export-orientated industries.
Her comments, interpreted as support for the yen's depreciation, have drawn criticism amid rising living costs driven by higher import prices, Kyodo News reported.
Opposition leader Yoshihiko Noda, co-head of the Centrist Reform Alliance, criticised the Prime Minister's stance during a campaign event in western Tokyo, saying that an excessively weak yen was hurting ordinary citizens.
"The Prime Minister does not understand the feelings of the people," Noda said, as quoted by Kyodo News.
Sunday's vote marks the first lower house election under Takaichi's leadership and comes just one year and four months after the previous general election held in October 2024, well before the completion of the four-year term of lawmakers.
According to polls, the LDP is projected to win over 233 seats in the 465-member lower house, up from its previous tally of 198, which would be sufficient to secure a majority.
In contrast, the Centrist Reform Alliance--formed last month through the merger of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito--is expected to suffer significant losses compared to its pre-election strength of 167 seats, Kyodo News reported.
The current LDP-JIP coalition was formed in October after Komeito ended its 26-year alliance with the LDP.
Prior to the dissolution of the lower house late last month, the government had been surviving on a narrow majority, supported by independent lawmakers.
Noda criticised Takaichi's decision to call an election just 16 days after dissolving the lower house--the shortest interval in Japan's postwar history--calling it "a disrespect to democracy" that could discourage voter participation, Kyodo News reported.
With heavy snowfall expected across both coastal and inland regions, including areas along the Pacific coast, the ruling party has urged voters to cast early ballots.
Senior LDP leaders have appealed for advance voting, seeking to mitigate the impact of weather conditions and capitalise on the Cabinet's strong approval ratings. (ANI)