Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba to resign: Reports

TOKYO: Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will resign to avoid a split within his ruling party, Japanese media reported on Sunday (Sep 7), pitching the world’s fourth-largest economy into fresh political uncertainty.

Ishiba‘s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-led coalition lost its upper house majority in an election in July.

Ishiba, who took office in October last year, had resisted calls to quit from mostly rightwing opponents within his own party for more than a month.

He had reiterated on Tuesday that he has no immediate intention to resign, saying that he will make a decision on how to take responsibility for the election loss at “appropriate timing”.

“Working on challenges that the party needs to address immediately is one way of taking responsibility,” Ishiba told reporters on Tuesday, citing the need for economic measures for those suffering from inflation or impacts from US tariffs.

Public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday Ishiba made the decision to quit to avoid a split in the party, while the Asahi Shimbun daily said he was unable to withstand the mounting calls for his resignation.

The farm minister and a former prime minister reportedly met with Ishiba on Saturday night to urge him to resign voluntarily.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately have a comment when contacted by Reuters on Sunday, but the government said Ishiba would hold a press conference at 6 pm local time (5pm Singapore time). 

With Ishiba at the helm, the LDP-led coalition has lost its majority in elections for both houses of parliament since coming to power last year, amid voter anger over rising living costs.

Ishiba’s close aide, LDP secretary-general Hiroshi Moriyama, had announced on Tuesday that he will resign from his post. Moriyama’s announcement came after the LDP convened a joint plenary meeting of both houses to assess the election defeat in the upper house election.

LDP lawmakers are scheduled to vote on Monday whether to hold an extraordinary leadership election – a virtual no-confidence motion against him if approved.

Concern over political uncertainty led to a sell-off in the yen and Japanese government bonds last week, with the yield on the 30-year bond hitting a record high on Wednesday.

If Ishiba resigns, his last act as premier will have been to finalise details of a trade deal with the United States last week, under which Japan pledged US$550 billion of investments in return for lower tariffs from US President Donald Trump on Japan’s key autos sector.