Politics & Government

Fumio Kishida Withdraws from LDP Presidential Race; New Japanese Prime Minister to Take Office

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:28 JST, August 14, 2024

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, announced Wednesday that he will not run in the party’s presidential election scheduled for late September. The announcement means Kishida, 67, will step down from the premiership about three years after he assumed the post, on Oct. 4, 2021.

The Kishida Cabinet’s approval rating has been stuck in the 20% range, bruised by LDP factions’ violation of the Political Funds Control Law. He seems to have succumbed to calls within the LDP for him to be replaced as prime minister.

“Once the Bon holiday period ends, moves toward the presidential election in autumn will pick up speed,” Kishida said during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday. “The first step to show that the LDP is determined to change in the presidential election, the easiest step to understand, is for me to step aside. I will not run for president.”

Kishida also said he would be “committed to supporting the new leader chosen in the presidential election, as a foot soldier of the LDP.”

Kishida had repeatedly indicated he would run for reelection, such as by saying he would formulate economic measures in autumn. However, nationwide opinion polls by The Yomiuri Shimbun have shown the Cabinet’s approval rating mired in the low 20s since last November. There was growing concern within the party over Kishida’s leadership, with a mid-ranking LDP member saying, “We can’t contest the next House of Representatives election under Prime Minister Kishida.”

Kishida’s three-year term as president will expire on Sept. 30. The presidential election to choose his successor will be held sometime between Sept. 20 and Sept. 29 in accordance with LDP regulations. With lower house members’ terms set to expire on Oct. 30 next year, roughly a year out, the presidential race is also meant to select the “face of the party” in anticipation of the next lower house election. The new LDP president will become prime minister after being chosen by the Diet.

Kishida’s withdrawal is expected to spur potential candidates to action. So far, digital minister Taro Kono has suggested he will run in the race. Interest has also been shown by LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi; Sanae Takaichi, economic security minister; and Shigeru Ishiba, former LDP secretary general.

Within the party, there is a strong desire to see a run by Shinjiro Koizumi, a high-profile former environment minister. At the same time, mid-ranking and junior LDP members are supporting former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi.

In December 2022, Kishida revised three documents, including the National Security Strategy, to drastically strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities. In May last year, he hosted the summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Hiroshima, his home turf.