Japan's PM Ishiba Resigns After Electoral Blows for Ruling LDP

Difficult decision made to stave off brewing civil war within party, he says

- Walter Sim

TOKYO - Defiant but finding himself increasingly isolated within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sept 7 that he was calling time on a short-lived tenure.

Mr Ishiba, who took office on Oct 1, 2024, will remain as prime minister until the LDP picks a successor.

Bowing in apology and appearing to blink back tears, the 68-year-old leader admitted he had come to a difficult decision that he felt was necessary to stave off a brewing civil war within the party.

"I am deeply sorry to the public for having to step down this way," he told a 50-minute nationally televised news conference. "I will devote all my heart and soul during my remaining time to tackling policy issues."

His resignation follows a "turning point" after US President Donald Trump signed off on an executive order on a trade deal with Japan on Sept 4, closing a chapter on what Mr Ishiba has long described as a "national crisis".

"I have always said that I am not attached to my position, and that I will make a decision (on my future) at the appropriate time," he said. "As LDP president, I bear responsibility for the election results. Now that negotiations regarding US tariff measures have reached a conclusion, I believe that this is the appropriate time to step down."

Mr Ishiba's position had looked increasingly untenable with his arch-rivals within the LDP, such as former prime minister Taro Aso, 84, openly agitating for his ouster.

A long-time outsider and vocal gadfly on the LDP's fringes, Mr Ishiba defied expectations to take office on his fifth bid, as the party grappled with the fallout from a damaging political funding scandal.

However, he faced a tall order from day one, hampered by the small size of his coterie of trusted allies and the party's deeply entrenched vested interests that clashed with reform ideals.