Japan's PM Kishida To Resign Next Month, Paving Way For New Leader

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday he would step down next month, succumbing to public disaffection over political scandals and rising living costs that marred his three-year term, and setting off a scramble to replace him.

"Politics cannot function without public trust," he told a press conference to reveal his decision not to seek re-election as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

“I made this heavy decision thinking of the public, with the strong will to push political reform forward.” The LDP will hold a contest in September to replace him as president of the party, and, by extension, as prime minister.

Kishida's ratings dipped after he took office in 2021 following revelations about the LDP's ties to the controversial Unification Church. His popularity took another hit when a slush fund of unrecorded political donations made at LDP fundraising events came to light.

He also faced public discontent as wages failed to keep pace with rising living costs as Japan finally shook off years of deflationary pressure.

"An LDP incumbent prime minister cannot run in the presidential race unless he's assured of a victory," said Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Sophia University.

"It's like the grand champion yokozunas of sumo. You don't just win, but you need to win with grace."

His successor as LDP leader will face the task of restoring the public's confidence in the party and tackling the rising cost of living, escalating geopolitical tensions with China, and the potential return of Donald Trump as US president next year.

US President Joe Biden called Kishida's tenure "nothing short of historic" and praised his new national security strategy, support for Ukraine, and steps to usher in a new era of US-South Korea-Japan cooperation.

"Prime Minister Kishida’s courageous leadership will be remembered on both sides of the Pacific for decades to come, and I will always be grateful to call him my friend," Biden said in a statement.

US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told a regular briefing he had no doubt that whoever took over from Kishida "we will continue to deepen our alliance and partnership with Japan."