Voting gets underway for by-elections to fill three vacant seats in Japan's House of Representatives, with the popularity of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida having plunged due to a slush funds scandal that has eroded public trust in his Liberal Democratic Party.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ruled out dissolving the lower house for a snap general election within the year, one of his close aides says, citing the need to implement economic measures and a tight political schedule.
Voting is under way in by-elections to fill two vacant seats in Japan's parliament, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party facing off against the leading opposition force in one-on-one battles.
The bill to revise the Criminal Procedure Code was approved at a plenary meeting of the Lower House and was then sent to the House of Councillors and is expected to be enacted during the ongoing ordinary session of the Diet.
Voters in Japan will decide in the Oct. 31 election on whether to let the ruling coalition retain control of the powerful House of Representatives and give Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a mandate for his COVID-19 and economic policies less than a month after he took office.