Hayashi: decline comment on LDP leadership election

Hayashi: decline comment on LDP leadership election

Tokyo, September 2, 2025 - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has announced his resignation, effective immediately, following a series of election losses, including a significant defeat in the July upper house elections [1]. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race will now commence, with potential candidates vying for the position of prime minister.

Among the potential candidates within the ruling party are Sanae Takaichi, a former internal affairs minister who finished second to Ishiba in the 2024 LDP leadership race; Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of a former prime minister; and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, who has held various ministerial roles [2]. These candidates, along with others, will need to secure at least 20 lawmakers' support to throw their hats in the ring for the leadership election.

The election of a new LDP leader will be followed by a vote in Parliament to confirm the new prime minister. Despite the LDP's loss of its majority in both chambers of Parliament, the party's ruling coalition still holds the most seats in the Lower House, making the LDP's candidate for premier the most likely to win. However, this outcome is not guaranteed due to the fractured state of the Diet.

The leadership transition will bring political uncertainty, with a priority for the new LDP leader being to restore support for the ruling coalition. The July election defeat followed a setback in the Lower House last October, shortly after Ishiba took office. As a result, the LDP has been forced to govern without a majority in either chamber of Parliament for the first time since its founding in 1955 [2].

The LDP's loss of conservative supporters to the right-wing populist party Sanseito, which pushed a "Japanese-First" agenda, and the Democratic Party for the People's gains in seats calling for a boost to take-home pay, have contributed to the LDP's current challenges [2]. The party's unpopular measures to tackle inflation have also been cited as a factor in the lost seats.

The resignation of Prime Minister Ishiba marks the third leadership change since Shinzo Abe's resignation in 2020. The party has yet to fully fill the power vacuum left by Abe's assassination in 2022 [2].

References:
[1] Reuters. (2021, September 7). Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/world/who-could-replace-ishiba-japans-prime-minister-2025-09-07/
[2] Straits Times. (2021, September 7). Japan Prime Minister Ishiba to resign NHK. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-prime-minister-ishiba-to-resign-nhk