TOKYO, Jul7 23 – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation is viewed as inevitable following the major setback for the governing coalition in the House of Councillors election, ruling party executives said Wednesday.
Ishiba, head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is likely to make the final decision in August on whether to step down, the executives added, amid growing calls among LDP members for him to take responsibility for Sunday’s election outcome.
Ishiba met with former prime ministers Taro Aso, Yoshihide Suga, and Fumio Kishida at LDP headquarters on Wednesday in a rare gathering of an incumbent with his predecessors.
Reiterating his intention to stay on as prime minister and LDP leader, Ishiba told reporters after the talks that he had made “no mention at all” of whether he would resign.
“We shared a strong sense of crisis” in the wake of the election outcome, Ishiba said, adding they also discussed the need to prevent the LDP from “falling apart.”
Younger and mid-ranking LDP lawmakers, meanwhile, have begun collecting signatures to demand a joint meeting of party members to hold Ishiba accountable, as dissatisfaction with the leadership continues to mount within regional chapters.
Ishiba said after the election he would remain in office to deal with a range of challenges facing the country, from inflation to tariff negotiations with the United States.
Japan said Wednesday that it had struck a deal with the United States to lower the tariff rates initially set by President Donald Trump to 15 percent for automobiles and other U.S.-bound products.
