TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved the lower house of parliament on Wednesday for a snap election on Oct. 27 as he seeks to win a mandate for his new government despite withering public support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the wake of a damaging political fundraising scandal.
The dissolution came on the final day of a short extraordinary session of the Diet and about a week after the start of Ishiba's new administration. Official election campaigning is set to kick off on Oct. 15 with all 465 lower house members defending their seats.
