Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso gestures as he walks into his official residence for a cabinet meeting in Tokyo, capital of Japan, July 21, 2009. Japanese Cabinet endorsed Prime Minister Taro Aso's plan to dissolve the lower house later in the day at its meeting on July 21 morning.
The Japanese cabinet endorsed Prime Minister Taro Aso's plan to dissolve the lower house later in the day at its meeting on July 21 morning.
All cabinet members signed the dissolution document including Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano as well as Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who have both appeared dissatisfied with Aso's decision last week to dissolve the lower house, Kyodo News reported.
After the Japanese emperor signs the Imperial decree proclaiming the dissolution, lower house Speaker Yohei Kono will read it out and the house will be dissolved at the House of Representatives plenary session starting at 1 p.m.
Aso is expected to hold a press conference at 6 p.m. to declare his determination for the election campaign.
Internal rows within Aso's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by former Secretary-General Hidenao Nakagawa, have failed to unseat the premier. Nakagawa claimed to have collected the required 128 house member signatures, but several key legislators refused to verify their own signatures, suggesting that they did not actually sign the petition or that the content was different from what they thought it had been.
