Japanese PM announces resignation

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday said he will step down from the top job, after less than a year in office.

Ishiba has been in power since October 2024 and he led a coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito Party.

Several members of Ishiba’s party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), lost faith in him after his ruling coalition lost majorities in both houses of parliament over the course of the year.

“I have decided to resign from the position of president of the Liberal Democratic Party,” he said at a press conference on Sunday.

Ishiba’s resignation comes just a day before his party was to decide whether to hold an early leadership election, which would have been a virtual no-confidence vote against him if it had been approved.

He intends to fulfill his duties until a new party leader is elected.

The long-dominant LDP lost control of the lower house after snap elections last October, and then fell short of the 248-seat requirement for the upper house this July.

Members of the LDP, most right-wing opponents, had been calling for Ishiba’s resignation for more than a month after July’s upper house election loss.

It was the first time the LDP has lost a majority in both houses of parliament since the party’s founding in 1955.

However, Ishiba resisted the demands, claiming that stepping down would put at risk tarrif talks that Japan was holding with the United States and would create a political vacuum with the country facing challenges in and outside the country.

“Now that negotiations on US tariff measures have reached a conclusion, I believe this is the appropriate moment,” Ishiba explained at the news conference on Sunday. “I have decided to step aside and make way for the next generation.”

US President Donald Trump signed an order on Thursday to lower tariffs on Japanese autos, with Washington finally moving to implement a trade pact negotiated with Tokyo in July, reducing the tarrifs from the current 27.5% to 15%.

After winning the party leadership in September 2024, he became the LDP’s 10th separate prime minister since 2000, all of them men.

Ishiba was elected LDP leader last year at a fifth attempt, promising a “new Japan”. His term was due to end in September 2027.

Despite his insistance on remaining in power, his eventual voluntary resignation came after reportedly meeting with the farm minister and a former prime minister and in an effort to stop the LDP from splitting.

Four senior LDP officials, including the party’s number two Hiroshi Moriyama, offered to resign last week.

Despite the LDP having governed almost continuously since 1955, voters have been deserting the party, including towards fringe groups such as the far-right Sanseito.