Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday announced that he would not run in next month’s party leadership vote, paving the way for Japan to have a new prime minister.
Kishida was elected president of his governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2021 and his three-year term expires next month. Whoever wins the party vote would succeed him as prime minister, as the LDP controls both houses of parliament.
Kishida said that he would support the new leader.
Photo: Reuters
“We need to clearly show an LDP reborn,” Kishida told a news conference. “In order to show a changing LDP, the most obvious first step is for me to bow out.”
“I will not run for the upcoming party leadership election,” he said.
Kishida has faced dwindling support ratings, which have dipped below 20 percent.
Photo: CNA
To achieve policies to tackle difficult situations in and outside Japan, regaining public trust in politics is crucial, Kishida said.
He called on aspiring party lawmakers to raise their hands to run for leadership and debate policies during the campaign.
“Once a new leader is decided, I hope to see everyone unite and form a dream team to achieve politics that can gain public understanding,” he said.
Kishida said he has been mulling his possible resignation for some time but waited until he could put his key policies on track, including an energy policy that calls for a return to nuclear power, a military buildup to deal with security threats in the region, and improving ties with South Korea, as well as political reforms.
Speculation on potential candidates has landed on a number of senior LDP lawmakers, including party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister of Digital Affairs Taro Kono, Minister of Economic Security Sanae Takaichi and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa.
In Taipei, former Japanese minister of defense Shigeru Ishiba said that he is willing to run for prime minister if he gets enough support from the party.
The 67-year-old Ishiba had run for LDP leadership four times before.
Asked if he was interested in running again, Ishiba, who is in Taiwan on a three-day trip, told reporters that he was open to the idea.
Speaking through an interpreter, Ishiba said he would need the support of at least 20 of the 371 LDP members in the two parliamentary chambers to make a run for LDP chief.
Asked if Japan would defend Taiwan if war were to break out in the Taiwan Strait, Ishiba said the top priority for Tokyo was to make sure such a scenario would never happen.
He also said that Japan’s possible responses to a cross-strait conflict were not something that should be shared publicly at a press event.
Ishiba is leading a group of six cross-party Diet members focused on security issues on a visit to Taiwan that was to end later yesterday.
Additional reporting by CNA
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS