Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is set to dissolve the lower house at its plenary session starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday, the Daily Yomiuri reported Monday, citing sources.

At a cabinet meeting scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aso is expected to formally propose dissolution of the House of Representatives, and cabinet ministers will then sign a document consenting to the dissolution.

At an extraordinary cabinet meeting following the dissolution, they will formally decide the schedule of the lower house election, with campaigning to start on Aug. 18 and voting set for Aug. 30.

It will be the first general election since September 2005, when then Prime minister Junichiro Koizumi led the Liberal Democratic Party.

According to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey, as of Sunday, the number of would-be candidates, some of whom are running in single-seat constituencies and proportional representation seats, already had exceeded 1,200 -- more than the 1,131 in the last general election.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2009)