Japan's PM Abe says not thinking of dissolving lower house for election

FILE PHOTO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a joint news conference with visiting U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) in Tokyo, Japan May 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
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Jonathan Ernst(Reuters)
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday he was not thinking about dissolving parliament’s lower house for a snap general election.
He was speaking in parliament in reply to an opposition question. Speculation has swirled that Abe may call a poll for the lower house of parliament to coincide with an election for the upper house that must be held this summer.
Asked what would happen if the opposition submitted a censure motion in the upper house, or a no-confidence motion in the lower chamber, Abe said: “I’m leaving everything to parliament and it is impossible to predict.”
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Robert Birsel)