Snapping to attention

THE prime minister, Shinzo Abe, says he has not yet decided whether or not to dissolve the Diet’s lower house and call a snap general election. But why should he even think of doing so? The most popular Japanese prime minister in recent memory, he has a mandate for reform and the coalition led by his Liberal Democratic Party has a powerful majority. With the lower-house term running till late 2016, he does not need to go to the polls. Yet rumours are rife that Mr Abe will call an election for December.

His advisers say that a decision could come as early as next week, soon after the release on November 17th of GDP figures for the third quarter. One motivation for a snap poll might be that Mr Abe’s still high popularity is starting to slide. But the chief one could be to gain public backing to postpone a planned rise in the unpopular consumption (value-added) tax, from 8% to 10%, next October. A first rise, from 5% to 8% in April, knocked the economy sideways, mocking Mr Abe’s promises to end deflation at long last and restore growth to Japan’s stuttering economy.