Aso to dissolve lower house on Tuesday

TOKYO, July 17 -- Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso decided Friday to dissolve the House of Representatives on Tuesday for a general election.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will hold a less formal meeting on Tuesday morning before the lower house dissolution in the afternoon, giving Aso a chance to review the party's consecutive losses in recent local elections and to declare his determination to fight the upcoming national election before fellow party members, according to Kyodo News.

Aso has rejected calls from LDP lawmakers asking him to step down before the election. Instead, he has vowed to fight on.

"Contesting a general election in unity -- I believe that has been the Liberal Democratic Party's tradition in its long history," he told Japanese media.

"I have to stand at the forefront and fight the battle, even with my teeth clenched," he added.

In tandem with the decision reached by the LDP leadership, the prime minister's office notified Tadamori Oshima, chairman of the LDP's Diet Affairs Committee, of Aso's plan to convene a Cabinet meeting at 8 a.m. Tuesday to endorse the Diet dissolution, Kyodo said.

The lower house's Steering Committee also decided Friday that the chamber's plenary session will be convened at 1 p.m. Tuesday for the dissolution.