Fumio Kishida announced his resignation as Japan's prime minister, paving the way for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to choose a new leader without a general election.
Japan's stock prices registered their biggest single-day point-drop since 1987 after Kishida's announcement.
Kishida faced public dissatisfaction over political scandals involving ties to the Unification Church, unrecorded political donations, rising living costs, and ineffective handling of inflation. He removed Cabinet ministers, dissolved party factions, and tightened political funds control laws in response.
Potential contenders to replace Kishida as LDP leader include Shigeru Ishiba, Taro Kono, Sanae Takaichi, and Shijiro Koizumi. Ishiba, a former defense minister, expressed willingness to run and acknowledged the need for party backing while visiting Taiwan, emphasizing Japan's commitment to preventing conflict in the region.
Kishida faced low approval ratings due to inflation, sluggish growth despite stimulus measures, and political-financial scandals within his party, including undeclared funds. His popularity plummeted to around 25%.
He gained international praise for supporting Ukraine and implemented a plan to increase Japan's defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027.
Under Kishida's watch, the Nikkei 225 Average hit a historic high in 2021.
The U.S. Ambassador to Japan praised Kishida's efforts in enhancing the US-Japan alliance, particularly in security cooperation and agreements with South Korea and the Philippines.
Sources: Associated Press, NPR, Business Insider, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, The Economist, The Independent, The Hill, Die Welt, Liberty Times, Excélsior, Zócalo, Süddeutsche Zeitung, India TV, HotNews.ro, RTÉ, Devdiscourse, El Tiempo, Times Now News.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.
