Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise announcement Wednesday that he will not run in a party leadership election set for September, paving the way for Japan to have a new prime minister.
Kishida was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2021 and his three-year term will end in September.
Kishida's withdrawal from the race means a new leader who wins the party vote will replace him as prime minister because the LDP controls both houses of parliament.
Kishida, who has been hit by his party's corruption scandal, has seen his approval rating drop to below 20 percent.
Kishida's announcement allows for a new leader in an effort to show that his party is changing for the better. Kishida said he would support the new leader.
Defeats in local elections earlier this year eroded his influence, and LDP lawmakers have voiced the need for new faces ahead of the next election.
Since the corruption scandal erupted, Kishida has removed several Cabinet ministers and others from party executive posts, dissolved party factions criticized as sources of political money for self-interest, and passed a law tightening political funding controls. But support for his government has waned.
The scandal centers on unreported political funds raised through tickets sold for party events. It implicates more than 80 LDP lawmakers, most of them from the faction of the main party formerly led by slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Ten people — lawmakers and aides — were indicted in January. (ft/es)
