By Obinna Uballa
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has announced that he will step down following a string of election losses that have shaken his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and plunged the country into political uncertainty.
The 68-year-old leader, who took office less than a year ago, while speaking on Sunday, said the party will hold an emergency leadership contest to choose his successor. He will remain in office until a new leader is elected.
“Japan has signed the trade agreement, and the president has signed the executive order, so we have passed a key hurdle,” Ishiba told reporters in an emotional address. “I would like to pass the baton to the next generation.”
Ishiba’s resignation follows his coalition’s failure to retain majorities in both houses of parliament, amid growing voter anger over rising living costs. The latest blow came in July’s upper house election, after which calls for him to step aside grew louder.
The resignation also comes just days after Ishiba sealed a crucial trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, aimed at easing tariffs that have hit Japan’s auto industry and slowed growth in the world’s fourth-largest economy.
Political uncertainty has rattled financial markets, with the yen weakening and 30-year government bond yields hitting a record high last week, Reuters reported.
Attention now shifts to who will lead the LDP. Reports say possible contenders include LDP veteran Sanae Takaichi, who has called for more aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus, and Shinjiro Koizumi, the popular farm minister and political scion who has been at the forefront of tackling soaring food prices.
The LDP does not hold a majority in either chamber of parliament, raising questions about whether its next leader can secure the premiership without calling a snap election.
While opposition parties remain fragmented, the far-right Sanseito party made significant gains in the July polls, injecting anti-immigration rhetoric into the political mainstream, reports said.
A Kyodo News poll published Sunday showed 55% of respondents oppose an early general election.
Ishiba’s final act as premier was signing the U.S. trade agreement last week, under which Japan pledged $550 billion in investments in exchange for tariff reductions.
