Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Wednesday that he would not run in September’s Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, leaving an undecided choice for prime minister of America’s closest ally on the front lines of the battle to contain China.
Kishida’s decision to step down came against the backdrop of a corruption scandal that has rocked his party and plunged his approval rating in opinion polls to about 20 percent. Public discontent over the rising cost of living has also contributed to a decline in trust in the government.
Kishida has not been implicated in the scandal in which several lawmakers and political staff have been indicted on charges of embezzling political funds, but in his decision to step down he called for greater transparency within the party, open elections and a serious discussion about the meaning of party leadership.
“We need to show that the LDP is changing. The first step is for me to step down from my position as LDP president,” Kishida said. He said at a press conference on Wednesday..
“I will not run in the upcoming LDP presidential election.”
The LDP controls both houses of Japan’s parliament, so whoever is elected leader will then be approved as the prime ministerial candidate in a parliamentary vote shortly thereafter.
September marks the end of Kishida’s three-year term as party leader, a period that saw Japan strengthen ties with the United States amid a major geopolitical crisis.
Foreign Minister Kishida argued that supporting Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia is inseparable from the security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, and warned that a victory for Russian President Putin in Ukraine would embolden Chinese President Xi Jinping to carry out aggression in the region.
President Biden has embraced Kishida as a key partner in his administration’s strategy to support Ukraine and build alliances in the Indo-Pacific to counter Chinese ambitions. Biden convened a historic summit between Kishida and South Korean President Yun Suk-yeo at Camp David in August 2023, which significantly eased tensions between Tokyo and Seoul and signaled deepening cooperation against common threats from China and North Korea.
Biden also welcomed Kishida to Washington in April, with the White House saying the alliance between Washington and Tokyo had reached “unprecedented heights” under Biden’s leadership.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel agrees. In a statement On Wednesday, he responded to Kishida’s resignation.
“Under Prime Minister Kishida’s firm leadership, Japan and the United States have ushered in a new era in our alliance,” he said.
“Prime Minister Kishida worked side by side with President Biden to help build a latticework of security alliances and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region that will stand the test of time.”
