Japan’s PM dissolves lower house of parliament, calls snap vote

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the lower house of Japan's parliament Friday, forcing a snap election in an apparent bid to shore up support for his scandal-plagued government so that he can pursue his policy goals.

His ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has been in power for most of the post-World War II era, may lose some seats but is likely to retain a solid majority with its coalition partner in the 480-seat lower house.

The election, expected to be held Dec. 14, follows Abe's decision this week to postpone a planned increase in the sales tax after figures released Monday showed the economy slipped into recession.

Abe is portraying the election as a referendum on his economic revitalization policies, known as “Abenomics”, and the postponement of the tax hike.

"The battle is now starting," he said, rallying party members shortly after the dissolution. "We'll make an all-out fight in this battle so that we all can come back here to resume our responsibility to make Japan a country that shines in the center of the world."

The snap election comes just two years after he returned to power promising to revive the economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, government spending and reforms, while moving ahead with plans to rein in Japan's public debt, the largest among industrialized nations.

Abe has said he would delay for 18 months a second tax hike from the current 8 percent to 10 percent that had been slated for October 2015. He pledged that the second increase, which advocates say is needed to fund the bulging social welfare costs of a fast-ageing population, would go ahead in April 2017.

Japan will not hold a general election until late 2016, but Abe hopes to cement his grip on power. Next year, he plans to tackle unpopular policies such as restarting reactors that went off-line after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.

With the opposition parties in disarray, Abe is likely fairly confident voters will give the LDP a victory that will keep him in office despite falling approval ratings.

An Asahi newspaper poll published on Friday showed Abe's support had fallen to 39 percent — the lowest since he took office in December 2012 — and just a bit more than the 40 percent who do not back him.

Still, 37 percent said they would vote for Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in proportional representation districts, compared to 13 percent who planned to vote for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Thirty percent were undecided.

Al Jazeera with wire services