Japan PM Fumio Kishida To Step Down Next Month

Japanese PM Fumio Kishida announced that he will not run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election next month, meaning that Japan will get a new premier.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced that he will step down next month.

Source : PTI

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Wednesday his decision not to run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election scheduled to take place next month. The announcement means that Kishida will step down as the premier of the fourth largest economy in the world amid a scandal over political funding. 

Explaining his decision in a news conference, Kishida said: ""In the up-coming presidential election, it's necessary to show the people that the Liberal Democratic Party will change." 

"To this end, a transparent and open election, and free and open debate are important. The first easy-to-understand step that indicates that the LDP will change is for me to step back," he said, reported NHK. 

"I will not be running in the forthcoming presidential election," Kishida announced. 

Conventionally, the head of the ruling party is also the country's PM and Kishida's announcement means Japan will soon have a new premier. 

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The announcement comes amid a political funding scandal involving factions within the LDP. Despite  Kishida taking action and punished lawmakers linked to the scandal, the public opinion for his party to slumped. 

Kishida has been in office since October 2021 and saw his and his party's poll ratings drop sharply in response to rising prices hitting Japanese incomes, reported AFP. 

Shrinking output and rising prices have also hurt Kishida and his party's popularity. Yen being one of the world's worst-performing currencies over the past year, despite some recovery in recent weeks, have also added to Kishida and LDP's struggling approvals. 

It had been speculated taht Kishida might call a snap election to shore up his position but NHK reported that growing voices inside the LDP believed the party would not be able to successfully contest the 2025 general elections under the Kishida government.