Japan’s PM Kishida to step down as scandals prove too much

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in a surprise move, announced he will not run in the upcoming party leadership vote in September, paving the way for Japan to have a new prime minister.

Kishida was elected president of his governing Liberal Democratic Party in 2021 and his three-year term expires in September. Whoever wins the party vote will succeed him as prime minister because the LDP controls both houses of parliament. A new face is a chance for the party to show that it’s changing for the better, and Kishida said he will support the new leader.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to step down in September.Credit: AP

“We need to clearly show an LDP reborn,” Kishida told a news conference Wednesday. “In order to show a changing LDP, the most obvious first step is for me to bow out.”

“I will not run for the upcoming party leadership election,” he said.

Stung by his party’s corruption scandals, Kishida has suffered dwindling support ratings that have dipped below 20 per cent.

In order to achieve policies to tackle difficult situations in and outside Japan, regaining public trust in politics is crucial, Kishida said. He called on aspiring party lawmakers to raise their hands to run for leadership and have active policy debate during the campaign.

Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet last December to try to contain the damage.Credit: AP

“Once a new leader is decided, I hope to see everyone unite and form a dream team to achieve politics that can gain public understanding,” he said.

Kishida said he has been mulling his possible resignation for some time but waited until he could put his key policies on track, including energy policy that calls for a return to nuclear power, a drastic military buildup to deal with security threats in the region, and improving ties with South Korea, as well as political reforms.

Speculation on potential candidates has landed on a number of senior LDP lawmakers, including party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, Digital Minister Taro Kono, Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.

Kono is seen as an outspoken maverick and fluent English speaker who has long been popular with the public and the LDP at large. He’s expressed concern about Beijing’s rise and has said Japan should join the “Five Eyes” intelligence grouping comprised of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US.

A winner will replace Kishida as party president, and will be endorsed as the new prime minister in a parliamentary vote soon after. LDP executives are expected to decide next week on the date for the party election.

Since the corruption scandal broke, Kishida has removed a number of Cabinet ministers and others from party executive posts, dissolved party factions that were criticised as the source of money-for-favour politics, and tightened political funds control law. Ten people — lawmakers and their aides — were indicted in January.

Despite Kishida’s efforts, support for his government dwindled.

Local election losses earlier in the year eroded his clout, and LDP lawmakers have voiced the need for a fresh face ahead of the next general election. Major losses in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly by-elections in July also added to the push.

The scandal centres on unreported political funds raised through tickets sold for party events. It involved more than 80 LDP MPs, mostly belonging to a major party faction previously led by assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The assassination surfaced a scandal over the LDP’s decades-old, deep-rooted ties with the Unification Church, for which Kishida has also faced criticism.

AP

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