Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday that he has no intention of dissolving the House of Representatives during the ongoing parliamentary session through June 23, with his Cabinet's approval ratings falling amid a political funds scandal.
"We are concentrating on resolving issues that cannot be put off such as political reform. I am thinking of nothing other than achieving results on these issues," Kishida told reporters at his office, ruling out a snap election.
Kishida's remarks came with his Liberal Democratic Party under scrutiny since it was revealed that some of its factions, including one previously led by him, had neglected to report portions of their income from fundraising parties and accumulated slush funds for years.
Many lawmakers within the LDP, which has been in power for most of the period since 1955, have asked Kishida not to dissolve the lower house as the political funds scandal has undermined public trust.
The conservative LDP lost three lower house seats in by-elections in late April to the left-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
After pledging to revise the political funds control law as soon as possible, Kishida was forced to make concessions to the leader of his junior coalition partner late last week.
The Komeito party, whose slogan is "clean politics," had rejected the LDP's proposed amendments to the law, saying Kishida lacked seriousness in reforming rules on money in politics despite the fundraising scandal.
But some LDP lawmakers criticized him for conceding too much to Komeito, after the only candidate fielded by Kishida's party in the three by-elections lost in Shimane Prefecture, known as a conservative stronghold.
On Tuesday, the LDP abruptly offered to cancel deliberations on the issue by a lower house committee to be attended by Kishida, citing the need to review the bill to reflect the views of the second-largest opposition Japan Innovation Party.
Afterward, the LDP agreed with the CDPJ to hold the panel session on Wednesday. The bill may clear the lower house on Thursday.
While the agreement is likely to pave the way for enacting the revised law, the opposition parties have ramped up criticism of the Kishida administration, with CDPJ Diet affairs chief Jun Azumi saying the LDP is "badly going astray."
In the wake of the by-elections, the opposition bloc has been stepping up demands for Kishida to dissolve the lower house at an early date, with the LDP expected to fare badly if a general election is held in the near future.
Critics point out that the political funds control law, which has been revised several times following the revelation of money scandals involving LDP members, still contains loopholes that enable politicians to maintain slush funds.
An LDP defeat would ruin Kishida's bid for reelection in the party's presidential race around September, some political pundits said.
The Cabinet's approval ratings have hit their lowest levels since it was launched in October 2021, falling far below 30 percent, a threshold widely recognized as a "danger level" for a government.
The current four-year terms of lower house members expire in October 2025, unless Kishida dissolves the chamber. Under Japan's Constitution, the prime minister has the authority to decide whether to dissolve the lower house.
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