Japan's new PM dissolves the lower house of parliament to set up a snap election

TOKYO (AP) — New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved the lower house of parliament Wednesday to set up an Oct. 27 snap election, asking people to trust the governing party's policies even as critics said the vote comes far too soon.

Ishiba took office last week as Fumio Kishida resigned after leading the governing Liberal Democratic Party for three years while it was dogged by corruption scandals.

With the early election, Ishiba seeks to secure a majority in the lower house, the more powerful of the two chambers, for his governing party before the congratulatory mood fades.

The move has been criticized as prioritizing an election rather than policies and for allowing little debate. But Japan's opposition has remained too fractured to push the governing party out of power, which it has held almost without interruption in postwar times.