LDP Political Situation: Can the Prime Minister be Said to Bear No Responsibility?

Editorial

16:35 JST, August 29, 2025

Time is being spent on discussions over whether to hold a presidential election for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party before the current leader’s term of office expires, causing talks on various policy issues to stall. To avoid a prolonged political vacuum, the only possible course is for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to promptly decide on whether to step down from his post.

The LDP presidential election administration committee has finalized procedures for deciding on whether to bring forward the presidential election.

According to the procedures, LDP Diet members who want an early election are asked to sign and seal certain documents and bring them to party headquarters. LDP prefectural chapters are asked to submit the documents via mail or other means after they decide to request an early election.

The election committee said it will publicly disclose the names of lawmakers who requested an early election and other information. It plans to go through procedures regarding the documents on Sept. 8.

Party rules stipulate that a presidential election will be held if a majority of all LDP Diet members and prefectural chapter representatives demand one, even during the president’s term of office.

This time, the focus is on whether 172 out of the total of 342 individuals — comprising 295 LDP Diet members and 47 prefectural chapter representatives — will support an early election.

Procedures for an early presidential election are scheduled to begin after the general meeting of Diet members from both houses to be held on Sept. 2, which will review the results of the recent House of Councillors election. Turmoil over whether to support Ishiba is likely to deepen.

Meanwhile, the document reviewing the upper house election is reportedly expected to include wording to the effect that issues of politics and money contributed to the defeat.

The aim may be to emphasize the responsibility of Diet members who belonged to the now-defunct Abe faction, which was the party’s largest faction, and who failed to record large amounts of funds they received in their political funds reports. However, other lawmakers who belonged to the now-defunct Kishida faction and the now-defunct Nikai faction also did not record the funds in their reports.

Some lawmakers close to Ishiba have defended him, stating that the prime minister is not solely responsible for the defeat.

But, since forming his administration in October last year, Ishiba has simply accepted demands from opposition parties wholesale and it is hard to say that he has come out with effective economic and other measures. His diplomatic achievements have also been meager. His lack of a definite position on managing the administration was likely another cause of the crushing defeat.

Ishiba suffered three consecutive losses as LDP president — in last year’s House of Representatives election and in this year’s Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election and upper house election. If he keeps avoiding taking responsibility for the losses, there will be no meaning in holding an election. He should recognize that his clinging to power is putting democracy at risk.

Despite 40 days having passed since the upper house election, policy discussions are making little progress.

Discussions on specific measures against high prices, the biggest point of contention in the upper house election campaign, remain up in the air. This autumn, the government intends to revise the high-cost medical expense benefit system, which is intended to reduce the burden on patients when their medical expenses become too high.

Cooperation from opposition parties will be needed to realize both measures against high prices and social security reforms, but the opposition parties will not engage in talks with Ishiba, whom they battled with in the upper house election. The path Ishiba should take is obvious.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 29, 2025)