Japan is set for a snap election in early February. Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae wants to firm up her coalition's position in parliament and win a mandate for her fiscal and defense policies. There's an opportunity for the new prime minister, but analysts also see risks.
00:00Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae takes to the podium to announce she will
00:06dissolve the lower house of parliament and call a snap election every seat in
00:10the house is now up for grabs her coalition now has just roughly half the
00:15seats in the lower house and she hopes her popularity will sway voters to turn
00:19that into a majority there's not much time until election day February 8th but
00:26Takaichi is already making her pitch voters are frustrated at the cost of
00:31living in one poll by Japan's public broadcaster NHK 45% of respondents say
00:37prices are their chief worry far ahead of any other issue to get ahead of the
00:42opposition she's promising the same thing as her rivals axing Japan's tax on food
00:47for two years but Takaichi has a foreign policy agenda and plans to boost defense
00:52that she wants a mandate for two she sees China as a threat that needs
00:57countering by closer partnerships with countries like the US South Korea and
01:01the Philippines her eye is on Taiwan whose security she has said is key to Japan's
01:07own the international situation is growing increasingly severe the Chinese
01:15military conduct exercises around Taiwan economic coercion is also evident where
01:21China cease to force other countries to submit to their demands by controlling supply chains the world relies on as newspapers break the news on Tokyo's streets people's reaction suggests it's mostly her domestic policies on issues from prices to immigration that are grabbing attention
01:40I basically want policies that take measures against rising prices
01:47honestly I think a more balanced policy is necessary
01:50Japan is not a country that was established yesterday or today
01:57it is not a country of immigrants valuing the people of Japan I believe is
02:02something Takaichi can do
02:04I hope she does it Japanese stocks are watching transatlantic tensions over
02:09Greenland unfold but Takaichi's promise to cancel the food tax helped send government bond yields to all-time highs putting more pressure on highly indebted Japan
02:18Takaichi has an opportunity with this election but she also faces a risk her Liberal Democratic Party or LDP has broken ties with its old coalition partners the Komeito and joined up with the Japan Innovation Party instead and that breakup could cost her
02:36The worst case scenario is that Takaichi loses seats for the LDP and it's very possible with the the political configuration of opposition
02:45parties having changed so much it's very difficult to predict how a lot of these races are going to go and one of the most stable voting blocs in the country are the Komeito voters and she lost them
03:00Takaichi says she will formally dissolve the lower house on Friday setting up her first electoral test as prime minister and giving the country just a few weeks to decide on its next steps
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