Japanese voters are today heading to the polls in a snap election, following a tumultuous few years for the ruling party which saw a cascade of scandals, widespread voter apathy and record-low approval ratings.
The election was announced by Shigeru Ishiba three days after he was selected as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, LDP, before he was officially sworn in as prime minister.
The decision was made despite the LDP seeing approval ratings of below twenty percent earlier in the year, in the wake of a political fundraising corruption scandal.
The LDP still remains the strongest contender against opposition parties which have failed to unite, or convince voters they are a viable option to govern.
The main opposition party had an approval rating of just six point six percent before parliament was dissolved.
“It is so hard to make decisions to choose parties, I think people are losing interest,” Miyuki Fujisaki, a long-time LDP supporter who works in the care-home sector, told the BBC ahead of polls opening.
Shigeru Ishiba took over as prime minister after being voted in by the ruling party following his predecessor Fumio Kishida, who had been in the role since 2021, making a surprise decision to step down in August.
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