Defense Politics Asia – > 99
orig date 2024-08-14 05:24:21
08:20 14-08-2024
Defense Politics Asia
"Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will step down in September, ending a three-year term marred by political scandals and paving the way for a new premier to address the impact of rising prices.
"I will continue to do everything I can as prime minister until then end of my term in September," Kishida said in a televised news conference on Wednesday to announce his decision not to seek re-election as Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader.
His decision to quit triggers a contest to replace him as party boss, and by extension as the leader of the world's fourth-biggest economy. Kishida's public support eroded amid revelations about the party's ties to the controversial Unification Church, and more recently, unrecorded political donations made at LDP fundraising parties."