TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio plans not to dissolve the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, for a snap election within this year, sources said Thursday.

He has decided to focus on tackling inflation and boosting the economy for the time being as public approval ratings for his cabinet in media polls have fallen to the lowest levels since he took office in 2021, according to the government and ruling bloc sources.

“We will wholeheartedly work on economic measures and tasks that cannot wait,” Kishida told reporters Thursday. “I’m thinking about nothing else.”

The first half of the four-year term of office for the current Lower House members ended in late October.

Kishida, who aims to win reelection as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in autumn 2024, plans to seek an opportunity to dissolve the Lower House next year while keeping an eye on the trend of public opinion toward his cabinet, the sources said.

Soon after a cabinet reshuffle in September, the Kishida administration sought a court order to disband the Unification Church, apparently in a bid to highlight efforts to sever the LDP’s ties with the controversial religious group. The government has compiled a package of economic measures, including an income tax cut, standing ready to make all-out efforts to tackle inflation. Some ruling bloc members had voiced speculation that the Lower House could be dissolved during the current parliament session, which is scheduled to run through Dec. 13.

Last month, however, the LDP lost one of the two parliamentary by-elections. The electoral defeat, as well as falls in public approval ratings for the Kishida cabinet in media polls to levels below 30 pct, led to speculation that this year’s Lower House dissolution would be unlikely. A Japanese cabinet is said to be in the “danger zone” when approval ratings fall below 30 pct.

Parliamentary deliberations are expected to continue until the end of this month on the fiscal 2023 supplementary government budget, which will back the government’s package of economic measures, and the work to compile the fiscal 2024 budget will come into full swing after that. Kishida is considering attending the 28th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP28, to be held in the United Arab Emirates from the end of this month. A special summit between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is also planned in Tokyo in mid-December.

The tight schedule is seen as another factor behind the prime minister’s intention not to dissolve the Lower House by the end of the year.

JIJI Press