Japanese expert: snap election unreasonable

A Japanese professor criticized the snap general election triggered by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's dissolution of the lower house as unreasonable, which just leaves a campaign period of 16 days for a general election of the House of Representatives when Takaichi announced the decision on Jan 23.

The decision is aimed to capitalize on her cabinet's current high approval ratings, according to Japanese media, and the voting in the general election began on Sunday morning, with over 1,200 candidates competing for 465 seats in the House of Representatives.

Speaking in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Sunday, Mikitaka Masuyama, professor at Tokyo's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, revealed the motivations behind calling this snap election.

"From my point of view, it is just how selfish attempts to consolidate the parliamentary base for Takaichi. There is no reason to have the snap election this time around, so we have to have the delays in the execution of the budget and in the heavy snow regions, having election is very costly and makes it a lot difficult for even ordinary people to go to the voting booth. So, it is cannot be justified to have an election this time around," said Masuyama.

The primary focus of the election is whether the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) will secure a majority and allow the Takaichi administration to continue.

Speaking at a street rally on Jan 27, Takaichi said she wishes to "win the public trust," while reiterating her pledge to resign if the ruling camp fails to win a majority.

Analysts said Takaichi's decision to dissolve the lower house and call an early election while staking her position as prime minister reflects mounting internal pressures on her administration.

The recent personal scandals, economic and diplomatic policy risks, and her controversial remarks on foreign policy have made it difficult for the prime minister to fully implement her own agenda, pushing her to take a bold gamble.

"If Takaichi would win this election by landslide, she would assume the election gave her mandate. So, she probably becomes more confident in her stance on the security policy," said Masuyama.

"But I do understand that the international security environment is rapidly changing. I think we have to enhance defense capability. That does not necessarily mean that Japan to adopt a posture that could heighten the tensions with neighboring countries. I would rather see political groups gain power that enable Japan to play a more proactive role in international cooperation," he added.

Japanese expert: snap election unreasonable

Iran will never negotiate its missile program with the United States and will vigorously fight and prevail in any conflict initiated by the U.S., said Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a professor of English literature and orientalism at the University of Tehran.

The U.S. has been calling on Iran to curb its missile program over the past months, a demand Tehran has firmly rejected.

On Saturday, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that the country's missile program is "never negotiable."

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Prof. Marandi reiterated that negotiating the missile program is "out of the question" as Iran's military capability is a crucial defense against potential U.S. aggression.

"Negotiating the missile program is a red line. It will not happen today; it will not happen next month, and it will not happen next year. That is out of the question. The Americans would like to see such a thing happen, but it is impossible. What has protected Iran from U.S. aggression is its military capability. We have no illusions about what the United States would do if it could do it. And what prevents it from attacking us is our missile and drone capabilities, which we are going to strengthen rather than pull back on," said Marandi.

Marandi emphasized that while Iran does not seek war and has never initiated conflict with the U.S. or Israel, an attack from the U.S. would lead to a fierce fight for survival, given Iran's strong defenses in the Persian Gulf.

"What Iran has that can be used against the United States is much greater than what it has that can be used against the Israeli regime, because its defenses alongside the Persian Gulf are very enormous and diverse: short-range missiles, medium-range missiles, countless drones, submarines. Everything in the Persian Gulf and on the other side of the Persian Gulf, where the U.S. bases exist, can be easily destroyed. This is not a war that the United States can win. We don't want war, and we have never initiated a conflict, neither with the United States nor with the Israeli regime. But if the United States attacks Iran, it will be a fight for our survival, and we will pull no punches," he said.

The U.S. and Iranian delegations held indirect negotiations on Friday, marking a renewed diplomatic effort amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington in view of the latter's military buildup in the region.

On Saturday, commenting on the negotiations between the two countries that focused solely on Iran's nuclear issue, Araghchi said they were a good "start," but there is a long way ahead to build trust.

Iran never to negotiate missile program with US: professor