With his grasp on power slipping, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to remain in office despite a stinging electoral rebuke that plunged his ruling coalition into fresh turmoil.
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The humiliating setback, confirmed late on Sunday, has fuelled doubts about Ishiba’s leadership as rivals within his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) circle and stoked anxiety in the world’s fourth-largest economy, already reeling from rising prices, mounting security threats and the disruptive effects of US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff regime.
In a sombre appearance on public broadcaster NHK two hours after polls closed on Sunday, Ishiba “solemnly” conceded the “harsh result”. “It is a difficult situation that must be taken very humbly and seriously,” he said. Pressed on he intended to continue as Japan’s leader, he replied: “That’s right”.
But Ishiba’s leadership of the party and the country appears increasingly precarious. Signs of discontent have flared within the LDP since the vote, with former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi openly signalling her readiness to challenge the prime minister.
Addressing supporters in Nara prefecture on Friday, Takaichi declared the party was “under scrutiny” and warned it might require drastic change to resurrect its fortunes.
“I have made up my mind in my own way,” Jiji Press quoted her as saying. “I will once again firmly reset the party’s backbone. I promise to fight for that.”