Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his intention on Sunday to step down following growing calls from his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July’s parliamentary election.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his intention on Sunday to step down following growing calls from his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July’s parliamentary election, Japan’s NHK public television reported.
Ishiba, who took office in October, had resisted growing calls from within his own party to resign for more than a month, saying such a step would cause a political vacuum when Japan faces key challenges in and outside the country.
His resignation plan comes a day before his Liberal Democratic Party makes a divisive decision on whether to hold an early leadership election, a virtual no-confidence motion against him if approved.
Ishiba intends to step down to prevent the party from getting divided further, NHK said. If he had stayed on, he would have inevitably struggled to manage his divided party and minority government.
The prime minister is expected to hold a news conference later Sunday.
In July, Ishiba ’s ruling coalition failed to secure a majority in the 248-seat upper house in a crucial parliamentary election, further shaking the stability of his government. The loss added to an earlier election defeat in the lower house, where the party-led coalition also had lost a majority.
