and over 35% for prime minister abe's party ldp.o at this point, abe's almost certain to get the confidence vote he needs to drive his policies forward. >>> voters in japan have a date to mark on their calendars. prime minister shinzo abe dissolved the lower house of the diet, and set a general election for december 14th. abe has been in office since december 2012. he says he's seeking public support for his economic policy known as abenomics. we now turn to the business aspect, after the dissolution of the lower house and ron madison is here with more on that story. ron? >> you know when all is said and done business leaders really just hoping that this will give a boost to the economy. they've urged policymakers to waste no time coming up with measures to keep the economy growing, and pull it out of deflation. they talked after japan's lower house was dissolved. the chairman of japan association of corporate executives said many hope the economy will enter a virtuous cycle and that livelyhoods will improve. >> translator: people a

seven months after he took office, abe and ldp coalition party swept victory again in the upper house election. with both houses under his control, abe gained momentum to proceed with the longstanding defense policy goal. abe and his cabinet gragreed to change the way the constitution had been interpreted. that included allowing the country its right to collective self-defense. they want japan to defend closely relate the countries under atk in certain conditions but that desire has yet to become law. in september, abe reshuffled his cabinet for the first time since he took office in 2012. he wanted to build fresh support for his policies, including strengthening japan's ability to protect itself. he appointed five fee male ministers in an effort to promote the role of women in society. but two of them resigned within two months of assuming their new positions. over allegations of political funding irregularities and violation of the election law. >> translator: as prime minister, i am responsible for appointing the two ministers. i apologize to the public for creating this situation.

people in okinawa oppose it. >> now, prime minister will also be up for re-election as the leader of the ldp in the autumn of next year. >> that's right. abe wants to go in to that vote with a strong mandate from the japanese public. unless he remains leader of the party, he cannot continue on as prime minister. abe's not just thinking a couple years ahead. he's looking four or five years down the road. another key factor in abe's timing is the economy, i think. maybe was elected in 2012 on a pledge to turn japan around, and he's been trying to achieve that through the economic policies known as abenomics. but, figures out this week show that japan's gdp is shrinking, and an increase in the consumption tax in april is one of the reasons. abe seems to be looking for approval from voters about his decision to put off a second planned sales tax hike. the prime minister may also be trying to get ahead of epic scandals that have shaken up his cabinet. and the election would help him to get a fresh start. >> so, how much do -- or how much support do abe and his cabinet have from voters heading int

the ldp already has a comfortable majority. why doesn't he get on with it and looks like a great distraction from the accumulating failures and empty pledges of abe so it might be a miscalculation. i mean last month his popularity fell about 8%, so maybe he wants to get this election in before it gets worse and start some gloating. on the other hand the upside for him he gets a two-year extension to his term in office and ldp in control, more time to get their agenda passed. >> there's this real possibility that second stage of this sales tax increase will most likely be put on hold for a period of time. what message, though, does that send to the international community? how crucial is it for abe to get that sales tax hike through to get japan's debt under control? >> well, yeah, there is a big concern that it's rising. clearly there is pressure to get the fiscal house in order, but because the economy tanked and contracted over 7% in the second quarter and an additional 1.6% in the third quarter there is a fear that if he goe

to go for the election, to lock in another ldp victory, albeit maybe smaller, and to get four more years of ldp rule, during which time he hopes his economic policies will start to work. >> that's rupert winfield-hayes in tokyo. aaron is going to have more on the japanese economy as well as a huge free trade agreement between china and australia a little later coming up in business. stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come -- chicken and ducks are being culled after separate outbreaks of bird flu in the netherlands and britain. ♪ ♪ ♪ you drop 40 grand on a new set of wheels, then... wham! a minivan t-bones you. guess what: your insurance company will only give you 37-thousand to replace it. "depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before it's first oil change?" you ask. maybe the better question is, why do you have that insurance company? with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. >>> pro-russian separatists have been blamed for shooting down mh17 with a miss

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to ldp is almost certain lose seats, if anything to its .oalition partner they are more elects -- theyainst some things abe wants to do. in the other sense, it is him ng i still have a big majority. the thing to remember is his main agenda at now is not so much about economics. the economics is a means to an end. japan canres about is stand up to china. the next steps for his government are constitutional reform towards greater military capabilities. turning back on the nuclear power. not saycut is, i would it is by the side, but it is less important than those two to the abe government. you are much more nuanced. havex months, if we do not a significant improvement or at least something more concrete in terms of the third arrow being beefed up, then when you say this is not working? >> i suggested that if they postpone the tax hike that the markets might actually be hit badly. i markets i mean yen and equities. capable of japan is controlling be gdp market for now. i may be wrong and people may seek short-term growth. they are postponing and so their markets go up. should focuspeople

responsibility to prompt growth in china and then the election in japan on the assumption that the ldpasonable backs authority in a the third arrow of elements that we have not seen yet and if we start to see that come through that would allow ecb the time to wait for the new year so of course that is playing out as we expect. all this talk about further measures from the ecb acting to prevent deflation has clearly pushed down yields it seems not of week goes by where we don't talk about another new record low on some software and bond yield somewhere, how low can they go? they are not much higher than japan and when you contrast the way that japan has acted on quantitative easing and the ecb has talked about them mostly how low can those yields go? question, theyod can go lower but there is clearly a limit just mathematically. the japanese have been here before, there was a quantitative easing problem a number of years ago and as we are all aware japan has essentially had 20 years of poor economic growth so the japanese are looking to andve after a long journey many are hoping the eur

the ldp, my party along with our coalition partners, hold many feats within parliament. i'm aware that some people have said why are you calling elections? we may lose seats in this election. i am aware this is going to be a very difficult election. but our finances are very closely correlated with likelihood of the japanese public. there are differing opinions on the structural reforms. and i have decided that i need to hear the voice of the japanese public as to whether or not we should go forward with these reforms. i know there's criticism and that criticism says abe-nomics has failed. but i asked these people, what is the alternative? i have not heard any detailed alternatives. there is no time to stand still. this election will be whether or not the public feels that the reforms that we are proposing are the right path for japan and whether or not there is no alternative. when i first started this term, there was a lot of criticism towards tax reform. but our mandate two years ago was to ensure japan's economy recovers strongly. that is why we have proceeded with t