TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday (Sep 7) he would step down after less than a year in power in which he lost his majority in both houses of parliament, amid voter anger over rising living costs.
“I have decided to resign from the position of president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),” he said, referring to Japan’s ruling party, which has governed almost uninterrupted for decades.
Ishiba, who took office in October last year, had resisted calls to quit from mostly rightwing opponents within his own party for more than a month after the (LDP)-led coalition lost its upper house majority in an election in July.
He had reiterated on Tuesday that he has no immediate intention to resign, saying that he will make a decision on how to take responsibility for the election loss at “appropriate timing”.
“Working on challenges that the party needs to address immediately is one way of taking responsibility,” Ishiba told reporters on Tuesday, citing the need for economic measures for those suffering from inflation or impacts from US tariffs.
Public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday Ishiba made the decision to quit to avoid a split in the party, while the Asahi Shimbun daily said he was unable to withstand the mounting calls for his resignation.
The farm minister and a former prime minister reportedly met with Ishiba on Saturday night to urge him to resign voluntarily.
Ishiba’s close aide, LDP secretary-general Hiroshi Moriyama, had announced on Tuesday that he will resign from his post. Moriyama’s announcement came after the LDP convened a joint plenary meeting of both houses to assess the election defeat in the upper house election.
LDP lawmakers are scheduled to vote on Monday whether to hold an extraordinary leadership election – a virtual no-confidence motion against him if approved.
Concern over political uncertainty led to a sell-off in the yen and Japanese government bonds last week, with the yield on the 30-year bond hitting a record high on Wednesday.
With Ishiba’s resignation, one of his last acts as premier will have been to finalise details of a trade deal with the United States last week, under which Japan pledged US$550 billion of investments in return for lower tariffs from US President Donald Trump on Japan’s key autos sector.
Source: CNA
