Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday he would step down next month, and won't seek a rerun to the office. Hiroshima-native Kishida reportedly has succumbed to public disaffection over political scandals and rising living costs that marred his three-year term.
1. What did Fumio Kishida say? "Politics cannot function without public trust," the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). "I made this heavy decision thinking of the public, with the strong will to push political reform forward."The LDP will hold a contest in September to replace him as president of the party, and, by extension, as prime minister.
2. Why is he quitting? Kishida's ratings dipped after he took office in 2021 following revelations about the LDP's ties to the controversial Unification Church. His popularity took another hit when a slush fund of unrecorded political donations made at LDP fundraising events came to light. The Prime Minister also faced public discontent as wages failed to keep pace with rising living costs as Japan finally shook off years of deflationary pressure.
3. What next for Kishida's party? His successor will face the task of restoring the public's confidence in the party and tackling the rising cost of living, international media reports said. Tokyo's escalating geopolitical tensions with China, and the potential return of Donald Trump as U.S. president are also key issues.
4. Legacy: Through his stint as Japan's eighth-longest serving post-war leader, Kishida broke from previous economic policy by eschewing corporate profit-driven trickledown economics to set his sights on boosting household income, including wage hikes and promoting share ownership. He led Japan out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Kishida's premiership was also marked by a changing security environment that spurred Japan to revisit its traditional pacifist policy. He unveiled Japan's biggest military buildup since World War Two with a commitment to double defence spending aimed at deterring neighbouring China from pursuing its territorial ambitions in East Asia through military force.
- At Washington's prodding, Kishida also mended Japan's strained ties with South Korea, enabling the two and their mutual ally, the United States, to pursue deeper security cooperation against the threat from North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programmes.
5. Consequences: Kishida's departure could mean tighter fiscal and monetary conditions, depending on the candidate, Reuters quoted Japanese economic experts as saying.