Various tactics to force Ishiba out of power emerge within the LDP
The party has been thrown into a political power game between those who want Ishiba ousted immediately and those supporting the prime minister, who denied reports Wednesday that he will resign.
One of the two tactics under discussion is to hold an official decision-making meeting of party lawmakers that requires the support of a third of them or more to be held. Currently, the party is expected to hold a less formal meeting of party lawmakers on Monday to discuss the outcome of the Upper House election. If Monday's meeting becomes an official one, it could give further momentum to the anti-Ishiba camp and a petition to hold an LDP leadership race could be submitted, among other options.
On Friday, LDP lawmaker Hiroyoshi Sasagawa told reporters that he was able to gather enough signatures to hold an official meeting. The anti-Ishiba camp hopes that getting at least a third of the party lawmakers on board for the official meeting will pressure Ishiba to step down. A petition to hold the meeting has reportedly been signed by former members of the now-defunct factions that were led by party heavyweights Shinzo Abe and Toshimitsu Motegi, as well as those in the existing faction led by former Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Meanwhile, some LDP lawmakers are going door to door in the political center of Nagatacho, collecting their colleagues' signatures for a petition to move the date for the party's presidential election forward from September 2027, when Ishiba's three-year term ends.
Often described as the "recall provision,' a presidential race can be held if more than half of the combined number of LDP lawmakers and one representative from each local chapter asks for one. The provision, however, has never been invoked since it was introduced in 2002. The key would be how widely anti-Ishiba sentiment is spread within the party across the nation.
Calls for Ishiba to resign, however, are already spreading among younger LDP lawmakers.
The LDP's youth bureau submitted a letter to LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama on Friday demanding that Ishiba and the party's executive members take responsibility for the Upper House election results, effectively urging them to resign.
The letter was submitted after 46 out of 47 LDP prefectural chapters participated in an online meeting with the party's youth bureau on Wednesday, in which the majority of participants agreed to submit a joint statement to party headquarters demanding the 'immediate' resignation and replacement of Ishiba and other party executives.
Ishiba is set to make a decision on what to do once key events in August are over, including a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the anniversary of the end of World War II on Aug. 15 and an international conference on African development in Yokohama from Aug. 20 to 22.
On Friday, Ishiba met with ruling and opposition party leaders to update them on the tariff deal with the United States. But the meeting was overshadowed by a flood of news reports and speculation on what might happen to Ishiba.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters that Ishiba did not mention anything about his current standing in the Friday meeting.
On Wednesday, Ishiba denied reports that he would resign at the end of August after an unusual meeting at party headquarters with three former prime ministers — Aso, Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida — hours after Japan and the United States reached the surprise trade agreement .
Ishiba said the party heavyweights did not discuss his resignation, but one of the former prime ministers at the meeting revealed that none of them were supportive of Ishiba's continued leadership.
Information from Jiji added
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