Japanese PM dissolves lower house of parliament under LDP pressure: expert

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's decision to dissolve the lower house of parliament was made due to pressure from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to a certain extent, in order to secure his party's lower house majority, according to Nishikawa Shinichi, professor of political science at the Meiji University.

The lower house was officially dissolved on Wednesday. The move is setting the stage for the upcoming general election, which is slated to be held on Oct. 27, with campaigning set to begin on Oct. 15.

Ishiba won the presidential election of the ruling LDP on Sept. 27 and was elected prime minister on Oct. 1 in the parliament controlled by the LDP-led coalition.

The timing marked the shortest period between a prime minister taking office and the dissolution of the lower house in Japan's postwar history.

"There is a strong desire within the LDP to dissolve the lower house as soon as possible while the 'freshness' of the new regime is still there, or before it 'exposes its flaws', in order to conduct a so-called 'unfailable' general election. I think Ishiba was also forced to compromise under the pressure from the LDP," said the professor.

The slush fund scandal of the LDP has always been one of the focuses of debate and attack among the opposition parties.

Shinichi believes that the newly inaugurated prime minister will not keep his promise to solve the problem at the moment.

"Shigeru Ishiba's top priority is to unite the LDP supporters, especially keeping the cooperation with Komeito, to ensure victory in the election and prevent the problem from escalating. He pays lip service to solving the slush fund scandal, but this may be just a superficial promise. In fact, he is more concerned about how to ensure a solid support base," Shinichi said.

Japanese PM dissolves lower house of parliament under LDP pressure: expert

China will expand its project "white list" mechanism to ensure that all eligible property projects have access to financial support, in efforts to safeguard home deliveries, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Wednesday.

The project "white list" is an itemized register of real estate projects or developers that have been ruled compliant with regulations and thereby eligible for financial support.

Financial institutions are required to timely disburse loans to eligible property projects and meet their reasonable financing needs, according to the statement on a meeting held by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Financial Regulatory Administration. The meeting also stressed the need to ensure the delivery of homes, calling on local authorities to "adopt strong and effective measures to stabilize the real estate market."

Ensuring the delivery of homes is an important task in promoting stable and healthy development of the real estate market. It is a concrete action that adheres to the people-centered development philosophy and responds to the concerns of the public. It is also a strong measure to prevent and resolve real estate risks and to promote the market's stabilization and recovery, said the meeting.

Under the "white list" mechanism launched in late January, local authorities are recommending real estate projects eligible for financial support to financial institutions.

The mechanism is part of China's efforts to stabilize the sector weighed by debt problems and boost confidence in an industry that accounts for nearly 6 percent of the country's GDP, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

China to expand white list mechanism to stabilize property sector