Japanese Prime Minister Announces Resignation, Hopes Party Overcomes Divisions
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and CNBC News, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced at a press conference that he will resign amid weeks of mounting pressure to step down.
During the conference, Ishiba said, “I deeply hope members of the Liberal democratic Party overcome the serious divisions within the party.” He described his decision to resign as arduous.
Ishiba noted that he had been considering his tenure as last year’s election but had been weighing the right timing for announcing his resignation. He added that after seeing concrete results related to a trade agreement with the United States, he felt able to make his resignation public now.
Earlier, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported that Ishiba decided to resign in order to avoid deepening splits within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party has lost its majority in both houses of parliament amid voter anger over rising living costs since Ishiba took office. He assumed power in October last year and has resisted pressure from mostly right-wing opponents inside his party for over a month.
Liberal Democratic Party representatives are scheduled to vote tomorrow on holding an extraordinary election-a move that woudl effectively serve as a vote of no confidence against him.Last week,Ishiba’s government finalized details on a trade agreement with the United States.
