TOKYO, SEPT 2 (AFP/APP): The secretary general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) offered to resign Tuesday following July’s disastrous upper house election.
“I wish to resign from my position as secretary general to take responsibility for the election results,” said Hiroshi Moriyama, who is the party’s number two.
The July 20 election saw the LDP-led coalition lose its majority, only months after also being forced into a minority government in the lower chamber.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba must now decide on Moriyama’s fate.
Moriyama’s comments were made during a meeting of the LDP to discuss the election results.
Ishiba himself has so far defied calls from some within the LDP to quit.
“I will make an appropriate decision when the right time comes,” Ishiba said Tuesday.
“I won’t run away from taking responsibility,” he said. “I have no intention at all to cling onto my position.”
Two other top LDP officials — general council chairperson Shunichi Suzuki and policy chief Itsunori Onodera — have also conveyed to Ishiba their intentions to quit, Jiji Press reported.
The centre-right LDP has governed Japan almost continuously since the 1950s and Ishiba took the helm around a year ago.
Voter support has fallen in recent years because of anger over inflation and corruption scandals within the party.
Opinion polls last week suggested that Ishiba’s ratings have bounced back since the election.
In one survey by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, more respondents (50 percent) now think Ishiba should remain than resign (42 percent).
The Yomiuri put the recovery down to the recent trade deal with the United States and efforts by Ishiba’s government to curb the recent meteoric rise in rice prices.
US President Donald Trump announced a “massive” trade deal with Japan only two days after the upper house election, cutting threatened US tariffs to 15 percent from 25 percent, while lowering those on cars to the same level.
Voter backing of Ishiba’s handling of US trade negotiations rose to 42 percent from 29 percent in June.
An overwhelming 86 percent said they approved of the government’s decision to shift policy towards increasing rice production.
Rice prices have skyrocketed due to supply problems linked to a very hot summer in 2023 and panic-buying after a “megaquake” warning last year, among other factors.
Ishiba has appointed a new farm minister — the popular Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, a potential challenger — and his government has released emergency stocks in an effort to bring down prices.
