I have decided to resign as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), says Ishiba at a press conference in Tokyo.
Ishiba, who took office as recently as last October, has previously opposed leaving because it, according to him, risked creating a political vacuum. But the pressure on him has continued to increase and on Monday, the LDP would decide whether to bring forward a vote on the party leadership.
The Prime Minister and his government coalition lost the majority in the parliament's upper house in the election in July – after also losing the majority in the lower house in November. This means that it is the first time in the LDP's 70-year history that the party is leading a coalition that controls neither the lower nor the upper house.
Dissatisfaction with the government is rooted, among other things, in the fact that it has not managed to deliver solutions to problems such as rising prices for example rice, and wages that are lagging behind. In addition, the government is plagued by the aftermath of corruption scandals.
