In a surprising turn of events, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced that he will be stepping down as the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. The Japanese PM's announcement comes after a scandal-marred three years in office and a sharp decline in approval ratings.

Speaking at a televised press conference, the Japanese PM stated he would not run in the presidential race of the party to prove to the public that the LDP has "changed".

“In this election, it is necessary to show the people that the LDP is changing and the party is a new LDP," stated PM Kishida.

“For this, transparent and open elections and free and vigorous debate are important. The most obvious first step to show that the LDP will change is for me to step aside. I will not be running in the forthcoming presidential election.”

Before making the public announcement, Kishida informed senior administration officials that he would not be contesting. With the Japanese leader stepping down as party-lead, the LDP will work towards electing a new leader, who is expected to take on the role of prime minister later on.

Scandal Marred 3 Years For Kishida

The three years of Kishida in office have been marred by major corruption scandals. Despite low approval for Kishida as PM, his tenure was worst-hit by the funding scandal revealed in 2023.

The findings of the scandal revealed that 85 lawmakers from Kishida's party siphoned unreported profits from the sale of tickets to party gatherings in slush funds.

As per the prosecution, members of the LDP failed to report about ￥500m raised through fundraising parties over the past five years. The majority of the lawmakers impacted by the scandal were from the faction of LDP previously led by assassinated PM Shinzo Abe.

As per local newspapers, Kishida's faction of the LDP was also allegedly involved and have been suspected of failing to declare over ￥20m in the three years to 2020.

Who Can Take Over After Kishida?

While Kishida is yet to announce his successor, five potential candidates have been identified. These are -

• Shigeru Ishiba - Former defence secretary

• Taro Kono - Incumbent digital minister.

• Sanae Takaichi - Economic-security minister

• Seiko Noda - former internal affairs minister

• Yoko Kamikawa - incumbent foreign minister.

Fumio Kishida was elected the party president in September 2021 for a three-year term. Before Kishida, the party was led by Yoshihide Suga from 2020 to 2021 and former PM Shinzo Abe from 2012 to 2020.