Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s “Commodity Note Politics” is not working, and the LDP is in a daze.
Staring blankly into the void, the LDP has no strong candidate to replace him, even though he has been criticized by many in the party. ......
The mood within the party is one of resignation.
I deeply regret that I have lost my sense of the public.”
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (68), after being questioned by opposition party members at a House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting, said he regretted what he had done, then stumbled back to his seat and remained motionless for a while, staring into the void.
The Asahi Shimbun newspaper scooped that Prime Minister Ishiba had handed out 100,000 yen gift certificates as “souvenirs” to 15 new Diet members who attended a round-table meeting held on March 3. Since then, the prime minister has been in a tight spot.
The criticism spread to the entire party when Shoji Maitate, 49, a member of the House of Councillors, out of concern, defended the prime minister, saying that the distribution of gift certificates was a customary practice (he retracted his statement the next day). The headwind of “politics and money,” which had blown the LDP out of the water in the lower house election, intensified. A veteran LDP secretary confided, “The LDP’s financial power structure has been undermined.
A veteran secretary of the LDP confides, “They must have followed the LDP’s money politics. During the second Abe administration, 100,000 yen worth of Mitsukoshi gift certificates were given out at a meeting for new Diet members. The day before the meeting, a secretary from Abe’s office came and handed it to me, saying, ‘This is a gift from the prime minister to congratulate you on your election. On the day of the meeting, Abe talked about the difficulties he had faced as a rookie and encouraged him to ‘buy shoes and visit as many voters as possible.
Mr. Ishiba followed the customary practice, but I guess he didn’t care enough to stop talking to the attending legislators. The failure to grip the new members also exposed the fragility of the party’s internal base. He explained that the funds came from his pocket money, but it is reasonable to assume that the money came from the secret government budget.
Even before the gift certificate issue came to light, Prime Minister Ishiba was in trouble: At the LDP convention on March 9, former Economy and Security Minister Takayuki Kobayashi (50), who fought in last year’s presidential election, criticized the prime minister, saying, “Policy decision-making has changed two or three times. Nishida openly urged the prime minister to step down, saying, “We cannot fight the Upper House election if we do this.
Nishida revealed the true meaning of his remarks.
Prime Minister Ishiba lost the recent lower house election and cannot be the face of the election. The issue of gift certificates is also a headwind for the Upper House members, who are scheduled to hold elections this summer. With an eye on the election, I intend to keep pressing him to step down after the budget is passed.”
However, no lawmakers have emerged in response to Nishida’s move. Atsuo Ito, a former LDP official and political analyst, explains.
With the headwinds against the administration blowing in his direction, no one would go out of their way to make a “post-Ishiba” bid. There is no one who could be the face of the campaign in the Upper House election. Koizumi Shinjiro (43) has no practical experience. Kobayashi lacks experience and is competing for votes with Sanae Takaichi (64). Toshimitsu Mogi (69) may be capable, but he cannot be the face of the election in terms of public popularity.
A kind of “mood of resignation” is said to prevail within the party. A mid-level LDP lawmaker said, “In any case, he will not be elected to the upper house in the next election.
It will be difficult to increase the number of seats in the upper house in the next election anyway. No matter who becomes prime minister, it will be a losing battle. The LDP’s “passive acceptance” of the Ishiba administration will only continue.
The Cabinet’s approval rating has dropped to 23%, the lowest since the inauguration. The public’s anger is sure to surface in the Upper House election in July. Not only will the party lose the election, but the whole party could be overthrown.
From the April 4/11, 2025 issue of FRIDAY
PHOTO： Takeshi Kinugawa
