TOKYO – The election strategy chief of Japan’s major ruling party made negative comments Friday about dissolving the lower house at an early date for a general election, despite high public approval ratings for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

“I can’t candidly say ‘yes’ to those who call for an immediate dissolution (of the chamber) on the back of high approval ratings (for the Cabinet),” Taimei Yamaguchi, head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s election committee, told reporters in the northeastern Japan city of Sendai.

Yamaguchi said the ruling party has assigned the highest priority to measures against the novel coronavirus and efforts to revive the economy.

As for the timing for dissolving the powerful lower chamber of parliament, Yamaguchi said, “Prime Minister Suga will make a judgment after those measures are recognized to some extent.”

A Kyodo News poll showed last week the approval rating for the Cabinet of Suga stood at 66.4 percent.

On Sept. 16, Suga became Japan’s first new leader in nearly eight years, succeeding his predecessor Shinzo Abe, who stepped down for health reasons.