Japan's embattled Prime Minister, Mr Yoshiro Mori, defying his unpopularity with a promise to revive the economy, dissolved parliament yesterday. Elections will be held on June 25th.
The Prime Minister, who has been roasted by the press for describing Japan as a divine nation centred on Emperor Akihito, bowed to cheering colleagues in the packed chamber.
Mr Mori (62) is in power barely two months after taking over when the former prime minister, Mr Keizo Obuchi, had a stroke. He died on May 14th.
The dissolution prevented debate of a no-confidence motion, moved by the Opposition because of Mr Mori's May 15th statement that Japan is "God's country, centred on the emperor".
The comment harked back to Japan's wartime belief that the emperor was a living god. The post-war constitution gives sovereignty to the people.
But the Prime Minister said he was confident Japan's 100 million electors would brush aside the gaffe and trust his government to pull the economy out of its longest downturn since the war.
His Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) released a policy statement saying the country was in "confusion" at the dawn of the 21st century.
"The Japanese economy has escaped from the worst situation, but has not achieved self-sustained recovery," it warned.
Support for the Mori administration plunged to 12.5 per cent in May, down from 37.6 per cent in April, according to a weekend survey.
Most analysts forecast the ruling coalition of the LDP and its two partners would lose seats, but was unlikely to lose power because of the close-knit nature of grassroots politics.
While Mr Mori's unpopularity had damaged the alliance's election prospects, "we still think the coalition will manage a thin majority and that Mori can hang on after the election", a political analyst said.
Mr Mori, a keen rugby player, "has a great physique but little inside it", a woman voter commented, predicting, however, that the LDP would do well in the elections.