Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida resigns along with his Cabinet

Kishida took office in 2021 but is leaving so his party can have a fresh leader after his government was dogged by scandals

Tokyo: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resigned with his Cabinet on Tuesday, paving the way for his likely successor Shigeru Ishiba to take office.

Kishida took office in 2021 but is leaving so his party can have a fresh leader after his government was dogged by scandals. Ishiba plans to call a parliamentary election for October 27 after he is formally chosen as Prime Minister later in the day.

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“I believe it is important to have the new administration get the public’s judgment as soon as possible,” Ishiba said in announcing his plan to call a snap election. Opposition parties criticised Ishiba for allowing only a short period of time for his policies to be examined and discussed in parliament before the vote.

Ishiba was chosen as the governing Liberal Democratic Party’s leader on Friday to replace Kishida, who announced in August he would resign at the end of his three-year term. Ishiba is assured of becoming Prime Minister later Tuesday in a vote by Parliament because it is dominated by his party’s ruling coalition.

Kishida and his Ministers stepped down at a Cabinet meeting in the morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. Hayashi, who is Kishida’s top confidante, said the world has high expectations for Japan’s diplomatic role, noting a deepening global divide over Russia’s war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.

“We hope the next administration will pursue an active and powerful diplomacy while placing importance on (Japan’s) main pillars such as achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Hayashi said.

The majority of his Cabinet Ministers, like Ishiba, are expected to be unaffiliated with factions led and controlled by party heavyweights, and none are from former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s powerful group linked to damaging scandals.