TOKYO, Sep 7: Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has announced his resignation following growing calls within his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July’s parliamentary election.
Ishiba, a moderate centrist, resisted demands from opponents further to the right within his party to resign, arguing that he wanted to avoid a political vacuum at a time when Japan faces key domestic and international challenges, including US tariffs, rising prices, and growing tensions in the Asia-Pacific. He explained that he had intended to take responsibility for his party’s summer election loss but was first determined to make progress in tariff negotiations with the United States.
The resignation came one day before his party was to decide whether to hold an early leadership election, which would have amounted to a virtual no-confidence motion against him if approved.
Ishiba said he made the “painful decision to resign” to avert that step because it would cause a critical division within the party, and that he would instead start a process to hold a party leadership vote to choose his replacement, which is expected to be held in October. He is to remain as prime minister until a new party leader is elected and endorsed by the parliament.
Possible candidates to replace Ishiba include Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, ultra-conservative former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, a moderate and the protege of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (AP)
