LDP Dissatisfaction Grows With Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba; Some Seek Replacement Before Upper House Election

The Yomiuri Shimbun

7:00 JST, March 14, 2025

Dissatisfaction within the Liberal Democratic Party has come to the fore over Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s handling of the budget proposal for fiscal 2025 and pension reform-related bills. Criticism may grow further if the low Cabinet approval rating does not pick up in time for the House of Councillors election this summer.

“We can’t compete in an upper house election with the current administration,” LDP member Shoji Nishida said Wednesday at a meeting of the party’s upper house lawmakers, seeking opinions from the other members. “We must hold a presidential election and choose a new leader.”

Nishida, a former Abe faction member who is in his third term, plans to run in the upcoming election in the Kyoto Constituency.

Nishida told reporters after the meeting: “We lost the House of Representatives election, meaning the people have already passed judgment. He [Ishiba] can’t be the face of the party for the next election campaigning.”

Asked who should be the new party president, Nishida named former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, as she “got the most votes from party members in the last presidential election.”

Takaichi also complained Tuesday on her X account, “There was no compelling policy message put forward” during Ishiba’s speech at Sunday’s party convention.

Ishiba’s inept handling of the government has drawn harsh criticism. The government has changed its policy repeatedly while reviewing the high-cost medical expense benefit system, which reduces the burden on patients when medical care costs are high.

As for the pension reform-related bills, an increase in the financial burden on the public could be perfect ammunition for the opposition parties in Diet deliberations, and many LDP members worry the matter will be a point of contention in the upper house election.

An NHK opinion poll released Monday showed that the Cabinet’s approval rating had fallen by 8 percentage points from the previous month to 36%, sending shockwaves through the government and the ruling parties. Nevertheless, people close to Ishiba are taking a wait-and-see approach, believing that “Nishida’s arguments have yet to gain traction.”