Japan’s Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba officially announced his intention to resign at a press conference held at the Prime Minister’s official residence on Sunday evening, September 7th.
After the devastating defeat of the Liberal Democratic Party in the July upper house election, calls for Ishiba to step down from within the party have been growing louder. Despite his past willingness to continue in office and his emphasis on “not being attached to positions of power but making decisions at the right time,” he ultimately chose to step aside in the face of the increasingly divisive situation within the party.
On the evening of the 6th, during a meeting with former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi, Ishiba was reportedly advised to proactively resign to prevent further division within the Liberal Democratic Party.
The party had originally scheduled a survey of lawmakers on September 8th to determine whether to hold an emergency presidential election. According to the party’s internal situation, the voices supporting the holding of a presidential election have exceeded half, which is also considered to have had a crucial impact on Ishiba’s decision to resign.
With Ishiba’s resignation confirmed, the Liberal Democratic Party will proceed with the presidential election to select a new party leader and prime minister for Japan.
Ishiba took over as Prime Minister in 2024, succeeding Fumio Kishida, and his tenure was less than a year. His resignation will once again lead to a new round of power reorganization in Japanese politics.