Japan’s Prime Minister, Kishida To Step Down

Fumio Kishida, Japan’s unpopular Prime Minister,  has announced that he will not seek re-election as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). This decision, revealed on Wednesday, effectively means he will step down as prime minister.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed almost uninterrupted since 1945, is due to hold a leadership contest next month, with the winner to become prime minister.

“In this (party) presidential election, it is necessary to show the people that the LDP is changing and the party is a new LDP,” Kishida told reporters in Tokyo.

“For this, transparent and open elections and free and vigorous debate are important. The most obvious first step to show that the LDP will change is for me to step aside,” he said.

Kishida, 67, in office since October 2021, has seen his and his party’s poll ratings slide sharply in response to rising prices hitting Japanese incomes and several scandals.

In November, Kishida announced a stimulus package worth 17 trillion yen (more than $100 billion at the time) as he tried to ease the pressure from inflation and rescue his premiership.

But this failed to make him any less unpopular, both among voters in the world’s fourth-largest economy and within his party.

Along with inflation – for Japanese voters an unfamiliar and unwelcome phenomenon – growth has spluttered, shrinking by 0.7 percent in the first quarter.

Despite some recovery in recent weeks, the yen has been one of the world’s worst-performing currencies, making life easier for exporters but pushing up import prices.