Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba on September 7, announced his resignation amidst spiking political pressure from the members of his Liberal Democratic Party(LDF), the longest ruling party of Japan. Mr. Ishiba was facing intense pressure from his own political camp, who were urging Ishiba to resign and thereby acknowledge the accountability for the loss of the party in the recent elections held for the Upper House of the Japan Parliament, ‘Diet’, in the month of July.
LDF party members were repeatedly calling Ishiba to step down and infact, on September 8, the party was set to decide on the early leadership election, a kind of no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister. As per the reports, unable to withstand the soaring political pressure Ishiba resigned a day-before such a proclamation. “I have decided to resign from my position as president of the Liberal Democratic Party,” Ishiba said in a televised press conference.
While announcing the resignation, Mr. Ishiba also reiterated that he would initiate the process to pick his successor. He also exclaimed that as he has stepped down, there was no need for undertaking the meeting that was scheduled for Monday(Sep. 7) in order to decide on the early leadership elections. “I have told Secretary-General Moriyama to carry out the procedures for a presidential election. I would like him to begin the process of selecting a new president”, Mr. Ishiba told in the Press Conference. He had assumed the position of Prime Minister of Japan since 2024, after winning the post of party leadership. He had defeated Sanae Takaichi with an extremely narrow majority in the party face-off and had risen to the helm of Japan’s power dynamics.
However, after repeated failure in elections in both the houses of the Parliament he was prone to massive political pressure seeking his resignation. In October 2024, LDF and its coalition partners lost majority in the elections held for the lower house of the Parliament. LDF also lost majority, in the latest Upper House elections held in July 2025. In the 248-member Upper House, LDF and coalition parties was able to secure only 122 seats, a sharp short of majority, thus further escalating the political pressure and opposition to Ishiba. Apart from the internal political pressure, Ishiba was also facing public anger due to soaring inflation rates, unbearable cost of living and spiking immigration trends.
On September 7, Ishiba reportedly met Agricultural Minister of Japan Shinjiro Koizumi and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Both of them reiterated that Ishiba should resign before the detrimental meeting scheduled for September 8.
Koizumi and Takaichi among likely successors
As per the Japan’s political experts and analysts the successor of Ishiba can be either Sanae Takaichi, veteran of LDF party or Shinjiro Koizumi who is the farm minister under Ishiba government and is the rising star in the LDF party.
Analysts also opine that the new leader might call for snap election that is for an early election to seek credibility and mandate as the LDF party doesn’t have a majority in both the houses of the Parliament. However, as per the polls conducted by the Kyodo news agency 55% of the respondents affirmed that there was no need for early elections.
