Japan’s Ruling LDP Decides to Hold Meeting of Party Lawmakers of Both Houses; Meeting to Focus on Responsibility for Upper House Election Defeat

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:29 JST, July 30, 2025

The Liberal Democratic Party has decided to hold a general meeting of its members from both houses of the Diet to discuss the major setback the party suffered in the latest House of Councillors election.

The decision was made at a board meeting on Tuesday. The party is working on scheduling the general meeting on Aug.7, and is trying to finalize the date with its members.

The general meeting constitutes the party’s decision-making body, and its agenda will likely focus on evaluating the election results and deciding how party executives should take responsibility for the loss.

The LDP board of executives on Tuesday asked Haruko Arimura, chairperson of the general meeting, to convene the meeting.

“Under the direction of the chairperson, I will listen to the concerns of members who wanted this meeting,” said LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama at a press conference after the board meeting.

At the general meeting, party members can decide on important matters regarding the LDP’s management.

At the same time, at least a third of party lawmakers’ signatures demanding the general meeting was collected.

Since many attendees at the party’s informal gathering on Monday voiced that the general meeting should be convened, the party executives judged it was better to decide on the general meeting before the list of the signatures was submitted.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also LDP president, spoke to reporters after the board meeting regarding his responsibility. “All I can do is carefully and sincerely explain matters without running away,” he said.

LDP lawmakers demanding Ishiba’s resignation aim to identify the reason for the defeat in the upper house election and to pursue the executive members’ responsibility.

At the meeting, a motion can be decided if a majority of attending party lawmakers vote for it. But even if a motion demanding that Ishiba steps down as LDP president passes, the decision is not binding.

If many LDP lawmakers judge that the responses of Ishiba are insufficient, it is possible that the party members will begin a full-fledged move to collect signatures to demand that the next LDP presidential election should be implemented earlier than scheduled.