Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is executing a political gambit by calling a surprise snap election three months into her tenure.

She’s not the only one, though, it turns out.

Since the first media reports on the impending election emerged, two opposition parties — the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and Komeito — have also taken a big risk, by deciding to form a new party.

A Lower House election set for Feb. 8 will see two large forces face each other — Takaichi’s conservative ruling bloc comprising the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), against the opposition’s new centrist party, the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA).

The question is: Will Takaichi’s carpe diem moment pay off?

At a news conference Monday evening, Takaichi said the snap poll will essentially be a referendum on who leads the country — herself or an opposition leader — in an attempt to make the election about herself, rather than the parties.