Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's fate remained unclear Wednesday amid reports — which he denied — that he would resign his post at the end of next month.
“There is absolutely no truth to what is being reported,” he told reporters Wednesday afternoon, hours after Japan and the United States reached a surprise trade agreement.
Some media outlets, including the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun, had reported Ishiba was poised to announce his resignation in the coming weeks, with the prime minister telling close advisers he had made a decision, three days after his Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition lost its Upper House majority in an election.
“I’ll do my best to make sure that people’s livelihoods are protected,” Ishiba told reporters in reference to the tariff agreement, after an unusual meeting at party headquarters with three former prime ministers — Taro Aso, Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida.
Ishiba said the party heavyweights had shared a common awareness that the party is at a critical juncture and that it must stay unified. The prime minister said his current standing was not discussed.
Ishiba had cited the tariff negotiations with Washington as one of the key factors behind his decision to stay in his post following the poor election showing.
LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama, speaking to reporters after the meeting, which he also attended, noted that the group had agreed to listen to the concerns of the party’s regional chapters and the organizations close to the party.
On Monday, the party will kick off a formal assessment of the reasons behind its electoral defeat, Moriyama said, adding that the process shouldn’t take more than a month given the constraints related to the drafting of the budget for the next fiscal year.
But pressure is now mounting within the party to oust Ishiba and elect a new leader.
In the past few days, several LDP local chapters have called on Ishiba to step down.
On Wednesday, the Kanagawa prefectural chapter submitted a letter to Moriyama asking party executives to take responsibility for the election debacle.
“We need to settle the matter on this defeat,” said Hiroyuki Umezawa, a member of the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly and the secretary-general of the party’s local chapter. “The simplest thing to do would be (for them) to resign.”
The request was submitted after the approval of farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the chairman of the chapter. In a news conference Tuesday, Koizumi voiced his disappointment with Ishiba’s post-election reaction, saying the LDP shouldn’t be content with just being the largest party in parliament.
In an online meeting between the party’s youth bureau and 46 of the party’s local chapters Wednesday, some members also asked the party leadership to take responsibility for the fiasco. Some went as far as saying the party should leave government to the opposition — an opinion shared by some of the party's lawmakers, too.
“A swap in the face of the party will send a message to the people that the party is changing,” youth bureau leader Yasutaka Nakasone told reporters, adding he will submit a formal report of the meeting to the party executives.
Should Ishiba resign, a party leadership election would need to take place. That entails behind-the-scenes maneuvering by potential candidates and their supporters in parliament.
A new parliamentary session would then be convened to select a new prime minister. However, with the ruling coalition lacking a majority in both chambers of parliament, even a new party leader will have a hard time getting the necessary votes.
August is typically a busy month for the prime minister, especially this year, since he usually attends a number of key events. This year’s events include a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the anniversary of the end of World War II on Aug. 15. An international conference on African development will also be held in Yokohama from Aug. 20 to 22.
Last September’s LDP presidential election showed there’s no shortage of potential candidates.
On Wednesday morning, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi gathered in parliament with a handful of lawmakers who supported him in his bid for the party leadership last year.
The meeting lasted roughly an hour and revolved around the recent electoral defeat, said one participant.
Kobayashi has long been one of the most vocal critics of the Ishiba administration, and he has his own study group. In the aftermath of the leadership race, he hinted he might run for the post again in the future.
Media reports said another former economic security minister, Sanae Takaichi, also hinted she might be ready to aim for the party's top post again. Last year, she lost the race to Ishiba in a runoff.
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