Japanese PM Kishida to step down in September
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will step down in September, succumbing to public disaffection over political scandals and rising living costs that marred his three-year term, and setting off a scramble to replace him.
"Politics cannot function without public trust," he told a news conference on Wednesday to reveal his decision not to seek re-election as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
"I made this heavy decision thinking of the public, with the strong will to push political reform forward."
The LDP will hold a contest in September to replace him as president of the party and, by extension, as prime minister.
Kishida's ratings dipped after he took office in 2021 following revelations about the LDP's ties to the controversial Unification Church.
His popularity took another hit when a slush fund of unrecorded political donations made at LDP fundraising events came to light.
He also faced public discontent as wages failed to keep pace with rising living costs as Japan finally shook off years of deflationary pressure.
"An LDP incumbent prime minister cannot run in the presidential race unless he's assured of a victory," said Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Sophia University.
"It's like the grand champion yokozunas of sumo. You don't just win, but you need to win with grace."
His successor will face the task of restoring the public's confidence in the party and tackle the rising cost of living, escalating geopolitical tensions with China, and the potential return of Donald Trump as US president in 2025.
Through his stint as Japan's eighth-longest serving postwar leader, Kishida broke from previous economic policy by eschewing corporate profit-driven trickle-down economics to set his sights on boosting household income, including wage hikes and promoting share ownership.
He led Japan out of the COVID-19 pandemic with massive stimulus spending and also appointed academic Kazuo Ueda as head of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to guide the country out of his predecessor's radical monetary stimulus.
In July, the BOJ unexpectedly raised interest rates as inflation took hold, contributing to stock market instability and sending the yen sharply higher.
Kishida's premiership was also marked by a changing security environment that spurred Japan to revisit its traditionally pacifist policy.
He unveiled Japan's biggest military build-up since World War II with a commitment to double defence spending aimed at deterring neighbouring China from pursuing its territorial ambitions in East Asia through military force.
At Washington's prodding, Kishida also mended Japan's strained ties with South Korea, enabling the two and their mutual ally, the United States, to pursue deeper security co-operation against the threat from North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba had already thrown his hat in the ring as a prospective replacement for Kishida, saying he would like to "fulfil his duty" if he gained enough support, public broadcaster NHK said.
Other names potential contenders include Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Digital Minister Taro Kono, and former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi.
