Aso likely to be ousted as Japan prepares for polls

Japan's cabinet has approved plans to dissolve parliament, paving the way for what's expected to be a watershed election at the end of August. The Japanese cabinet on Tuesday endorsed Prime Minister Taro Aso's plan to dissolve the lower house or the House of Representatives.

Opinion polls suggest that the governing Liberal Democratic Party is likely to be defeated for only the second time in more than half a century. Japan has been suffering its worst recession since the end of the Second World War and the prime minister is deeply unpopular.

All cabinet members signed the dissolution document, including finance minister Kaoru Yosano as well as agriculture minister Shigeru Ishiba, who have both appeared dissatisfied with Aso's decision last week to dissolve the house.

According to chief cabinet secretary Takeo Kawamura, Aso told a cabinet meeting, "Dissolution is necessary in order for us to gain more understanding and cooperation of the Japanese people."

The move came after Aso, who remains chronically unpopular according to polls and has faced open party revolt, told reporters last week of his plan to dissolve parliament this week and to hold general elections on 30 August.

The move could throw his deeply divided ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) into further disarray, as it braces itself for a massive election defeat and risks handing power to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.