Anti-Ishiba Movements Spreads in LDP

Post-election movement against leadership of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expanding inside the Liberal Democratic Party. Replacing the top leader has been a routine work for the party to re-boost popularity after terrible defeat in elections. This time, old style politics relying on secret fund was one of the major reasons of great setback in the Upper House election. However, the lawmakers who had been accepting secret funds from factions are joining anti-Ishiba movement in the LDP. 

Ishiba told the media in the night of voting day that he would stay as the prime minister, despite serious reduction of seats in the Upper House. He had set a target to maintain simple majority in the House with its coalition partner, Komeito. The result was three seats short of majority. Former prime minister, Taro Aso, reportedly told his aids that Ishiba would not be able to stay.

 

Ishiba held a meeting with former premiers, including Aso, Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida on July 23rd. “It is obvious that the Ishiba LDP cannot win an election,” said Aso in the meeting. Kishida demanded Ishiba to fix and announce the political schedule, concerning frustration held by young lawmakers in the party. Suga hoped not to divide the party. After the meeting, Ishiba announced that there was no conversation about resignation of him in the meeting.

 

It is young members and local branches that are protesting board members of the LDP, which looks like staying in their positions without taking responsibility of the defeat of Upper House election. Young lawmakers in former Motegi faction, with support from members of other ex-factions of Abe, Nikai and Aso, started collecting signatures of lawmakers demanding a Joint Plenary Meeting (JPM) of the members of both Houses of the Diet, instead of unofficial meeting of them set for July 28th. LDP constitution prescribes that the JPM must be held with requests from two-thirds or more Diet members of LDP.

 

LDP’s local branch of Tochigi decided to submit a request of Ishiba’s resignation to LDP headquarters. The head of Tochigi branch is Toshimitsu Motegi, one of the candidates in LDP presidential election last fall. Some other local branches also demanded Ishiba to step down. It is remarkable that most of those anti-Ishiba branches are led by lawmakers who take distance from Ishiba.

 

Anti-Ishiba lawmakers accumulate small meetings, hoping to pushing pressure to the prime minister. Four leaders of former Abe faction, Koichi Hagiuda, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Hirokazu Matsuno and Hiroshige Seko had a meeting on July 23rd. The finalist in 2024 presidential election, Sanae Takaichi, had respectively met with Aso and Nishimura, supposedly asking support for her candidacy.

 

Ishiba is defending his position, arguing his responsibility to avoid creating political vacancy for managing economic measures to deal with Trump tariffs or other events related to 80th anniversary from war-end or Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in August.

 

With some allies who support his administration, Ishiba struggles against internal pressure for his resignation. The cause Ishiba relies on is that the LDP needs to settle the discussion over political ethics, including kickback fund in which most of his enemies had involved.

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