Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday. Kishida confirmed that he will not run for re-election as head of the Liberal Democratic Party next month, which would essentially mark the end of his term as prime minister. Photo by Philip Fong/EPA-EFE
Aug. 14 (UPI) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced his resignation on Wednesday, ending his three-year term as head of the Asian country in an attempt to ease pressure on his political party, which is embroiled in a slush fund scandal.
The 67-year-old made the sudden announcement in a press conference at 11:30 a.m. local time, declaring that he would not run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election next month, the winner of which will be Japan’s next head of state.
“To make it clear to the public that the LDP has changed, I have decided not to run in the presidential election as a first step,” Kishida said, according to Kyodo News, adding that his party members should “work together in unity” under the new leadership to restore public confidence.
Since late last year, Kishida’s cabinet’s approval ratings have plummeted after it was revealed that its members were involved in a political donations scandal.
Kishida has sought to regain public trust by dissolving responsible factions within his party and punishing lawmakers. In his announcement on Wednesday, he said the next step to achieving that goal would be his resignation.
“I have no qualms about taking responsibility as party leader for the serious situation caused by its MPs,” he said on Wednesday, NHK reported. “I want to take responsibility by resigning at a time when the diplomatic schedule has been completed for the time being.”
He declined to say who he supports as the new president and said he would continue in office as a “simple” MP even after his resignation.
Kishida, a former foreign minister, was elected Japanese prime minister in late 2021 following the resignation of Yoshide Suga, who served only a year in office.
The announcement of Kishida’s resignation came shortly after an NHK poll released last week showed an approval rating of 25 percent for his cabinet.
Kenta Izumi, chairman of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, said in a press conference following the announcement that he believed Kishida felt “a sense of frustration” because he was unable to implement further reforms following the scandal.
He added that it is a common tactic for the LDP to simply replace the chairman when scandals arise.
“We should not be fooled by this,” he said, noting that the party remains essentially the same.
“There are still many MPs who have neither clarified the issues related to the secret funds, nor returned any of the money or paid taxes on it, and yet they are still in office.”
