Japan PM Ishiba to resign within 1 year after taking office
TOKYO, Sept. 7 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday expressed his intention to step down less than a year after taking the helm, in a surprise coming a day before his Liberal Democratic Party was supposed to decide whether to hold a snap presidential contest.
At a press conference, Ishiba cited his government "reaching a milestone" in tariff negotiations with the United States as a reason for his resignation, adding he is responsible for the LDP's setback in the July House of Councillors election.
The move came after Ishiba held talks Saturday night with former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi, both of whom are close to Ishiba. They are believed to have urged him to avoid a split in the LDP.
According to sources close to him, Ishiba, who took office in October 2024, voiced his willingness to fend off moves to hold an LDP leadership contest by threatening to dissolve the House of Representatives and call a snap election -- a stance that caused a backlash within the LDP.
According to media opinion polls, more than 50 percent of respondents said Ishiba's resignation was unnecessary. However, escalating calls within the LDP to hold an early presidential race forced him to step down, political experts said.
Amid mounting calls for Ishiba to take responsibility for the loss of the ruling coalition's majority in the upper house election in July, the LDP had planned to collect signatures from its lawmakers on Monday to determine whether to hold a presidential election ahead of the scheduled contest in 2027.
The party decided Sunday to cancel the procedures after Ishiba expressed his intention to resign, a senior LDP official said.
Criticism of Ishiba grew in recent days, even among his allies, as he had vowed to remain in office. Suga, who served as prime minister for about one year from September 2020, was reportedly concerned that a leadership contest could widen rifts within the ruling party.
On Friday, Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki joined veteran lawmakers in demanding a party leadership vote, becoming the first member of Ishiba's Cabinet to do so.
Suzuki said in a post on his blog that it is "necessary for the party to be united and regain trust." He is a member of a faction led by former Prime Minister Taro Aso, who called for an LDP presidential election.
Suga and Aso, who is currently serving as the LDP's supreme adviser, remain influential kingmakers in the party. Suga is the LDP's vice president, while Aso, who was prime minister for around a year from September 2008, has kept his distance from Ishiba.
On Tuesday, Ishiba said he would determine his political future at an "appropriate time" but reiterated his eagerness to stay on to pursue policy goals, even as a close aide expressed readiness to resign from a key party post.
The LDP has never held a midterm leadership election triggered by a majority decision.
Ishiba won the LDP presidency on his fifth try, but his ruling coalition lost its majority in the more powerful lower house in a general election later in October last year.
On July 20, the LDP and its junior coalition partner, the Komeito party, lost their majority in the upper house election as well.
The LDP's election review report released on Tuesday, more than a month after the upper house race, pointed to a political funds scandal as the main cause of the party's setback.
The LDP has faced intense scrutiny over revelations that some of its factions, including one formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, failed to report portions of income from fundraising events and created slush funds.
Many lawmakers pressuring Ishiba to step down were those who had close ties with Abe, known for his hawkish views and his influence over the party both during and after his premiership. He was assassinated in 2022 during an election campaign speech.
==Kyodo
