Tokyo, 14 August 2024 (TDI): Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will not seek re-election as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which he says needs a “new beginning”.
The 67-year-old LDP veteran is likely to resign as PM after the party elects a new leader next month.
Support for Kishida, who has been PM since 2021, has dropped in the wake of a corruption scandal involving his party, rising living costs and a slumping yen.
His approval ratings had plummeted to 15.5 percent in July – the lowest for a prime minister in more than a decade.
In the upcoming presidential election, it’s important to show the people that the LDP will change, Kishida said at a media conference on Wednesday announcing his decision.
A transparent and open vote and free and open debate are important. The first easy-to-understand step that indicates that the party will change is for me to step back, he added.
Within the party, some have doubted whether Kishida can lead to a win in the next general election slated in 2025. The party has been in power almost constantly since 1955.
Last December, four LDP cabinet ministers stepped down within a fortnight over a fundraising scandal involving the ruling party’s most powerful faction.
Five senior vice-ministers and a parliamentary vice-minister from the same faction, formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also resigned.
Japan’s Prosecutors Initiate Criminal Probe
Japan’s prosecutors initiated a criminal probe into whether dozens of LDP lawmakers received proceeds from fundraising events that saw millions of dollars kept off official party records.
But Kishida’s handling of the fundraising scandal drew public criticism, which rendered him more unpopular.
The controversy also unfolded as Japanese households struggled with food prices increasing at the fastest rate in almost half a century.
The combination of economic issues and political scandal fuelled mistrust in the ruling party, despite a divided and weak opposition.
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