Opposition Parties Criticize LDP for Political Vacuum, Mismanagement Following Ishiba’s Resignation

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:50 JST, September 8, 2025

Opposition parties unanimously criticized the Liberal Democratic Party for prolonging a political vacuum and engaging in political mismanagement Sunday evening, on the heels of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation announcement.

“The power struggle within the LDP has lasted too long,” said Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. “While the upcoming [LDP] presidential election will further prolong the political vacuum, there is an urgent need to devise measures to cope with high prices,” Noda told reporters at party headquarters, expressing his intention to demand the government and the ruling coalition convene an extraordinary Diet session at an early stage and compile a supplementary budget.

Noda expressed concern, saying, “The possibility of an immediate dissolution of the House of Representatives cannot be ruled out.” With an eye on the dissolution and a general election, Noda indicated his intention to urgently prepare.

Following the CDPJ’s assessment that the July House of Councillors election resulted in “a virtual defeat” for the party, it plans to choose a new leadership. It will hold a joint plenary meeting of its lawmakers from both houses of the Diet on Thursday and launch a new party system.

In the LDP presidential election, which will take place with a minority government, debates are expected on bringing some opposition parties into the coalition framework or holding policy discussions with the opposition, leading opposition forces to keep a close eye on the poll.

“We want to see how far the LDP will go with party and political reforms in the presidential election,” Fumitake Fujita, co-representative of the Japan Innovation Party, told reporters in Kobe. Some JIP members have said that the party should join the coalition to realize the party’s flagship policy of establishing a secondary capital.

“Whether the LDP can keep two promises – abolishing the provisional gasoline tax rate by the end of the year and raising the taxable income threshold to ¥1.78 million – will be the touchstone for their political management,” Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, told reporters in Yokohama.

Tamaki maintained a cautious stance on his party’s joining the coalition. “For now, we will judge whether we can cooperate with the coalition on a policy basis,” he said.

Tomoko Tamura who chairs the Japanese Communist Party said at party headquarters: “The responsibility of the LDP as a whole is being called into question. We have no choice but to end the politics led by the LDP.”