TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio KishidaIn a surprise move on Wednesday, he announced he would not run in September’s party leadership vote, paving the way for Japan to get a new prime minister.
Kishida was elected leader of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and became prime minister in 2021. His three-year term ends in September. The winner of the party vote will succeed him as prime minister, as the LDP controls both houses of parliament. A new face is an opportunity to show the party is changing for the better, and Kishida said he supports the new leader.
“We have to clearly show the rebirth of LTP,” Kishida told a press conference on Wednesday. “The most obvious first step to showing a changing LTP is for me to bow out.”
“I will not contest the upcoming party leadership election,” he said.
was stabbed by him Party corruption scamsKishida’s support ratings dropped below 20%.
He said restoring public confidence in politics was critical to coping with difficult situations in Japan and beyond, and called on party legislators to run for leadership and hold serious policy debates during the campaign.
“Once the new leader is decided, I hope to form a dream team to achieve a politics where everyone can come together and have common understanding,” he said.
Kishida said he had been thinking about resigning for some time but was waiting to put his key policies on track, including an energy policy that calls for a return to nuclear power. Heavy military build-up to deal with security threats in the region, and improving relations with South Korea, as well as political reforms.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel praised Kishida’s efforts in elevating the U.S.-Japan alliance to a new level by working closely with President Joe Biden, particularly on security, while also forming separate trilaterals, one with South Korea and the Philippines. In the face of China’s growing influence.
Biden and Kishida “wrote the organizing chapter of the next era,” Emanuel said.
However, Kenta Izumi, head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, said Kishida may have given up on pursuing the investigation into party reforms and corruption scandals.
“Whenever the party is in crisis, the LDP, for its own survival, repeatedly changes the prime minister and the party leader, forcing voters to forget the past,” Izumi said. “This is their strategy and people should not be fooled by it.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had no comment on the announcement, but UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said, “Certainly, the Secretary-General is very pleased to work with Prime Minister Kishida during his tenure.”
Several senior LDP lawmakers are considered potential candidates, including Kishida’s rival and party secretary-general Toshimitsu Moteki, and former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba, a favorite among voters. Three other challengers to Kishida in the 2021 vote — Digital Minister Taro Kono, Economic Security Minister Sane Takaichi and former Gender Equality Minister Seiko Noda — are also considered potential contenders.
A winner will replace Kishita as party leader and will soon be approved in a parliamentary vote as the new prime minister. LTP executives are expected to decide the date for the party polls next week, which is expected to be between September 20 and September 29.
Since the crackdown on corruption, Kishida has fired several cabinet ministers and others from party executive positions, dissolved most party factions criticized as a source of politics for money, and tightened a political finance control law. Ten people — lawmakers and their aides — were indicted in January.
Despite Kishida’s efforts, support for his government waned.
Local government elections Losses earlier in the year eroded his influenceAnd LDP lawmakers have voiced the need for a new face ahead of the next general election, which could be held anytime before October, 2025. Heavy losses in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly in the July elections also added to the motivation.
The scandal centers on unreported political funds raised through tickets sold to party events. It includes more than 80 LDP lawmakers. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated. The assassination exposed a scandal over the LDP’s decades-old, deeply rooted ties with the Unification Church, for which Kishida also faced criticism.
