JAPANESE Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday expressed his intention to step down less than a year after taking the helm, in a surprise coming a day before his Liberal Democratic Party was supposed to decide whether to hold a snap presidential contest.
On the back of recovering approval ratings for his Cabinet, Ishiba, once regarded as a reform-minded outsider within the LDP, tried to stay on as long as possible but apparently bowed to escalating pressure from party lawmakers.
His departure, however, could herald political turmoil in Japan, as the LDP is likely to continue struggling to join hands with an opposition party to form a majority coalition in parliament due to policy divisions, even after Ishiba steps down, pundits say. Ishiba’s announcement came after he held talks Saturday night with former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi, both of whom are close to Ishiba. They are believed to have urged him to avoid a split in the LDP.
Kyodo
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