Tokyo, Feb. 2 -- A political debate has intensified in Japan over the prime minister's "exclusive prerogative" to dissolve the House of Representatives after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently exercised the authority, triggering an early general election and drawing criticism from opposition parties, Kyodo News reported.

The snap election scheduled for February 8 comes less than 16 months after the previous polls held in October 2024, prompting opposition lawmakers, including members of the newly formed Centrist Reform Alliance, to call for limits on the dissolution power, long viewed as a discretionary tool of the prime minister.

While Japan's Constitution does not explicitly grant the prime minister authority to dissolve the lower...