The LDP’s “Special Circumstances” Allow Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to Declare He Will Continue to Preside Over the Diet

When will the Ishiba administration step down?

On July 28, a round-table meeting of Diet members from both houses of the Diet was held, where interests and grudges were intricately intermingled. After a seven-minute speech, the applause from the participating lawmakers was sparse.

The round-table discussion was scheduled to last two hours, but it turned into four and a half hours. The speaker spelled out, “I will not cut off the questioning. The reason for the delay was that Ishiba’s handwritten note, which read, “I will not cut off questions, and I will listen to the end,” was passed around to the executive committee, which was lined up on the dais.

According to Shigeharu Aoyama, 73, a member of the House of Councilors who attended the meeting, the majority of the participants called for Ishiba to step down, with 63 people speaking out and 38 demanding his immediate resignation. In contrast, only one member, former Director-General Funada, 71, of the former Economic Planning Agency, supported his continuation in office. Aoyama ordered Ishiba’s behavior during the long session.

There were times when I was glad there were no cameras. There were two or three times when he dozed off, perhaps because he was tired. In negotiations in the international community, you can be taken advantage of in an instant. He is not a person who can play an active role in the international community.”

The decision to hold a general meeting of both houses of the Diet to hold Ishiba accountable for his defeat in the Upper House election has accelerated the fallout from the election, and in an interview after the meeting, Ishiba was asked if there was any change in his policy of continuing to serve in the post. I will continue to fulfill my responsibilities,” he reiterated.

Does the public support “Ishiba’s continuation?

The fact that Ishiba declared that he would continue to throw his seat in the Diet has made it impossible for the anti-Ishiba faction to back down. However, the anti-Ishiba faction is difficult to deal with. There is no way they can force Prime Minister Ishiba to step down by simply calling for him to quit, and the LDP may lose support as the intra-party strife continues. Even if the anti-Ishiba faction calls for a presidential election, it may have the opposite effect, as if they are trying to create a sense of renewal by changing only the cover.

Public opinion is favorable to the Ishiba administration, which is still in power by the scruff of the neck.

An Asahi Shimbun poll (July 26 and 27) showed that 47% of respondents said his resignation was “not necessary,” higher than the 41% who said he should quit. As for the reasons for the defeat in the Upper House election, “Problems with the LDP as a whole” at 81% was much higher than “Problems with the prime minister personally” at 10%.

House of Councilors member Muneo Suzuki, 77, who returned to the LDP after a 23-year absence, raised his voice.

I walked all over the country during the campaign for the Upper House election, and it seems to me that the public is angry that the lawmakers who did not disclose their illegal money have not been cleared of any wrongdoing. This is the result of a national election in which the issue of politics and money remained unresolved, and Prime Minister Ishiba is by no means alone responsible.

If the leaders of the former Seiwa-kai (Abe Faction) and the former Shishokai (Nikai Faction) had removed their badges when the slush fund issue was first uncovered, the situation would not have become so complicated. The first thing that needs to be done is to take the necessary action against those members who did not disclose their badges.”

After the meeting, Mr. Ishiba also said, “It is important to align our party’s thinking with public opinion,” and he is not willing to easily relinquish his position as prime minister and president, which he won after five defeats in presidential elections.

However, Secretary General Yutaka Moriyama (80), who has supported the Ishiba administration to date, indicated that he would resign as secretary general, saying, “As secretary general, I will clarify my responsibility,” after the Upper House election summary committee compiled its report. If Moriyama, who has been called the “prime minister behind the scenes,” and who has extensive personal connections in the New Kōmeitō and opposition parties and is the backbone of the administration, resigns, the Ishiba administration will be forced into a difficult situation.

With the prospect of a hung parliament starting on August 1, the upper house of the Diet, which made great strides in the recent Upper House election, is expected to win the post of committee chairperson for the first time. The opposition parties have also lost the post of committee chairperson at the extraordinary Diet session to be held in the fall, and they will not be able to pass even a single bill without more careful explanations and further bowing down to the opposition parties.

Reasons for the “Continue to Pitch” Stance

He said, “Resigning immediately is not the way to take responsibility. Can we pass bills and budget proposals in a Diet session in which the majority of both the lower and upper house of the Diet has been reduced? It is the president’s responsibility to do something about it, even if it means dying.”

Toshitaka Ooka, 53, former vice minister of the environment and chairman of the House of Representatives Cabinet Committee, expressed his outrage. With the ruling party now in a minority in the lower house, it is no longer possible for the ruling party to pass bills and budget proposals on its own. A veteran secretary of the LDP, a veteran of the LDP, commented on the weakening of the ruling party’s base of power and the increasingly difficult political situation: “It is no longer possible for the LDP to win the presidency.

A veteran secretary of the LDP said, “We no longer live in an era where the LDP president is the prime minister. He has to bow to the opposition parties and manage the Diet while worrying about a no-confidence motion in the Cabinet. He will not have much to show, and he will not look good at all.

Prime Minister Ishiba is not well-liked within his party, but he has been meeting with Yoshihiko Noda, 68, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and Seiji Maehara, 63, co-chairman of The Japan Innovation Party, at their Akasaka residence through their close connections. Secretary General Moriyama is also a close friend of Jun Azumi, 63, former Minister of Finance, a key figure in the Rikken Party, and Takashi Endo, 57, former chairman of the Japan Innovation Party’s National Affairs Committee, who can play the art of sleeping with others.

The only person in the LDP with connections comparable to those of Ishiba is Vice President Suga Yoshihide (76). Other members of the LDP are unable to negotiate with the opposition behind the scenes. The Ishiba administration is now the only one capable of running the government.

Ishiba is said to be saying to those around him, “Who can steer the government in this political situation? How long will this chicken race without the people continue? ……