Editorial: LDP, Japan need new politics amid PM Ishiba's inevitable resignation

The Mainichi

2 days ago

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's resignation has become unavoidable. The ruling coalition has now suffered crushing defeats in both chambers of the Diet, losing its majority. Having been handed a vote of no confidence by the electorate, this outcome is only natural.
Following last autumn's loss in the House of Representatives election, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito again failed to secure a majority in this month's House of Councillors race. Including the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in June, the Ishiba administration has now lost three major elections in a row.
Yet even now, the prime minister insists, "What matters most is avoiding a paralysis of national politics," and clings to his post.
Such remarks, which seem to ignore the weight of the election results, have sparked fierce backlash both inside and outside the party. LDP prefectural chapters across the country are demanding Ishiba's swift resignation. The movement to oust him has accelerated, with mid-level and younger lawmakers calling for the party leadership election to be moved up.
Declaration to stay on ignores public will
Ishiba, whose base within the party has always been weak, owed his past prominence in leadership races to strong support from local party members. But after repeated election defeats, even these supporters have abandoned him, leaving him politically cornered.
With the resolution of Japan-U.S. negotiations over President Donald Trump's tariffs -- which Ishiba described as a "national crisis" -- now resolved, the prime minister's justification for staying on has also evaporated. Ishiba is expected to announce his resignation in response to the LDP's review of its upper house election defeat, which is to be compiled in August.
Ishiba was originally chosen as prime minister in hopes of fundamentally reforming "LDP politics." For years, he had criticized the government from within the party for being out of touch with the public. But since taking office, he has appeared to be swallowed up by the LDP's old logic. He has betrayed the public's hopes for a fundamental change in the political status quo.
The clearest example is the "money in politics" issue. Ishiba was reluctant to break with the LDP's money-driven culture, which came under fire in the party's factional slush fund scandal. Even after the lower house defeat, he showed little willingness to take responsibility, and sought to preserve corporate and organizational donations that could distort policy.
As the nation's leader, Ishiba also failed to present a clear national vision. He kept his own views on diplomacy and national security under wraps, and even his signature regional revitalization policies amounted to little more than a rehash of past efforts. The "Ishiba touch" was never on display.
When the LDP was reduced to a minority in the lower house, Ishiba called for a "deliberative Diet" in which ruling and opposition parties would scrutinize each other's proposals to produce better policies.
In reality, however, he prioritized cobbling together enough votes to pass LDP legislation, repeatedly compromising in closed-door talks with some opposition parties. This was a clear case of saying one thing and doing another.
The LDP has long weathered criticism by simply regularly swapping its leader. The public has seen through the Ishiba Cabinet as just another "pseudo-regime change," leading to widespread disappointment.
Time to restore trust in politics
The LDP has long led postwar politics as a national party that listens to a wide range of voices. The upper house election has laid bare that this foundation is dissolving. Support groups have weakened, and the old method of exchanging policy favors for "votes and money" no longer works.
During the "lost 30 years" following the collapse of Japan's bubble economy in the early 1990s, the party failed to directly address the public's anxiety about their daily lives. As a result, emerging parties have siphoned off support from young people, independents and the middle class, who believe Japan's vitality has been sapped.
In the increasingly multiparty upper house, both ruling and opposition parties engaged in a "battle of appeals" during the latest election, touting policies including tax cuts and tougher immigration controls with little regard for funding. But drifting toward such easy populism will prevent the LDP from fulfilling its responsibilities as a governing party.
The party must also confront medium- and long-term challenges head-on, such as building a sustainable social security system for a shrinking population, restoring fiscal health, and responding to growing international tensions. Such efforts will also lead to the stabilization of people's lives for the future and the restoration of trust in politics.
The real question for the LDP now is whether it can achieve true self-reform and be reborn as a new national party. Simply changing the party leader to create an illusion of renewal will not work.
If the LDP does not intend to hand over power to the opposition, it must present a new, broadly supported government framework and a clear direction for the country.