Japan PM Fumio Kishida To Step Down

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would step down as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September. The party is due to hold a leadership contest next month, with the winner to become the prime minister. The 67-year-old LDP veteran made the announcement at a press conference on Wednesday.

"Politics cannot function without public trust. I made this heavy decision thinking of the public, with the strong will to push political reform forward," Fumio Kishida said, as quoted by Reuters. Kishida also said that it is necessary to show the people that the party "will change." The LDP leader has been serving as the Prime Minister of Japan since 2021. However, his support has declined in the wake of a corruption scandal involving his party and rising living costs. A BBC report indicated that Kishida's approval ratings had plummeted to 15.5% last month, which is the lowest for a PM in more than a decade.

Fumio Kishida’s decision to step down was a surprise within the LDP, where senior leaders had firmly believed that the PM intended to stand in the leadership election. At the same time, the leadership election is expected to be held around September 20, and the potential contenders include former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, and digital minister Taro Kono.