Japan PM Fumio Kishida quits LDP leadership race as low ratings, scandals take toll

“In this [party] presidential election, it is necessary to show the people that the LDP is changing and the party is a new LDP,” Kishida told reporters in Tokyo.

“For this, transparent and open elections and free and vigorous debate are important. The most obvious first step to show that the LDP will change is for me to step aside,” he said.

Kishida, 67, in office since October 2021, has seen his and his party’s poll ratings slide sharply in response to rising prices hitting Japanese incomes and several scandals.

In November, Kishida announced a stimulus package worth 17 trillion yen (more than US$100 billion at the time) as he tried to ease the pressure from inflation and rescue his premiership.

But this failed to make him any less unpopular, both among voters in the world’s fourth-largest economy and within his own party.

Along with inflation – for Japanese voters an unfamiliar and unwelcome phenomenon – growth has spluttered, shrinking 0.7 per cent in the first quarter.

Despite some recovery in recent weeks, the yen has been one of the world’s worst-performing currencies, making life easier for exporters but pushing up import prices.

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Kishida could in theory have governed until 2025, and there had been speculation he might call a snap election to shore up his position.

But NHK reported that growing voices inside the LDP believed it would fare badly in elections under Kishida. In April, the party lost three by-elections.

Kishida decided to jump because he knew he would lose the leadership battle, said Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Sophia University.

“He has failed to close ranks within the LDP,” Nakano said.

But he added: “For