Calls are growing within the government for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to hold its leadership race earlier than planned, deepening pressure on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
On Tuesday, Environment Vice Minister Fumiaki Kobayashi publicly questioned Ishiba’s legitimacy after consecutive losses in national elections, writing on X that the LDP should move up the vote. Around the same time, about 10 mid- and younger-ranking lawmakers from the former Motegi faction—including three vice ministers and parliamentary secretaries—met to push for an accelerated timetable. Justice Parliamentary Secretary Junichi Kanda voiced similar views a day earlier.
The LDP leadership has decided to require lawmakers to submit signed statements on their position, with names made public—an approach critics see as political coercion. Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office warned that cabinet members who call for an early race should resign, arguing they cannot stay in government while effectively urging the prime minister to step down.
But with 66 vice ministers and parliamentary secretaries—nearly one-fifth of all LDP lawmakers—directly involved, mass resignations could paralyze the government. Policy talks between ruling and opposition parties have already stalled, feeding the sense of drift in what some critics call “politics that cannot decide.”
by MagazineKey4532