Ishiba” is trying to increase his influence by taking full advantage of his short term as prime minister.

Prime Minister Ishiba finally announces his resignation…what was going on behind the scenes?

I will not dissolve the Diet, and I will not run for the presidency. I will resign.”

Three hours before his resignation press conference at 6:00 p.m. on September 7, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, 68, addressed his aides, who had supported him for almost a year.

It was not his own fault or a gaffe.

When his aides said these words to him, Ishiba gave a small nod. Akamasa Akazawa, 64, minister in charge of economic revitalization, and Takeshi Iwaya, 68, minister of foreign affairs, looked exhausted and took Ishiba’s words to heart after repeated attempts to persuade them to pay attention.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Seiichiro Murakami, 73, who joined the meeting late, responded with a shudder to Ishiba’s words, “As a member of the Cabinet, I am sorry I could not protect you.

I apologize for not being able to protect you as a member of the cabinet.

On the night of the 6th, the day before the meeting, a black-and-white one-box car pulled up in front of the prime minister’s office.

A black-and-white one-box car visited the prime minister’s official residence. Out of the car stepped Vice President Suga Yoshihide, 76, and Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, who had come to the prime minister’s residence to urge Ishiba to resign.

The “resign or not resign” campaign had been going on for nearly 50 days since the defeat in the Upper House election, and a vote on whether or not to hold a special presidential election was to be held at the beginning of the week on August 8. Even some deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries in the Ishiba administration began to voice their support for holding the presidential election, creating serious fissures within the LDP. Mr. Kan urged them to do so.

If things continue as they are, the party will be split. Please don’t do anything like that.

Mr. Ishiba responded, “Without Mr. Kan, I would not have been able to become prime minister. I take this very seriously.” Mr. Kan, relieved, began to prepare to leave. As Shinjiro, who was accompanying Mr. Kan, prepared to return home, Mr. Ishiba asked him, “Mr. Koizumi, you are leaving too.

Mr. Koizumi, are you leaving too?

Surprised at being stopped, Shinjiro asked Ishiba, “What are your plans for the rest of the day? Ishiba shook his head. Shinjiro went to see Kan off at the entrance of his residence and then reappeared in front of Ishiba. The meeting lasted about an hour and a half.

Shinjiro listened attentively and praised Kan for his work in coordinating tariff negotiations with the U.S. and for bringing the minimum wage to over 1,000 yen, and told him that “these accomplishments will be forgotten if nothing is done. Mr. Ishiba declined to say anything about resigning on the spot, but his heart seemed to be in the right place.

The next day at noon, Mr. Ishiba, who had tried to hang on to his post by even seeking “Reiwa’s dissolution of the postal service,” gathered his close associates and spoke of his resignation, as he did at the beginning of this report. The “downing of Ishiba,” which had continued for 50 days since his heavy defeat in the Upper House election, had come to an end.

Is Prime Minister Ishiba aiming to “return to the prime minister’s seat” again?

On September 22, the battle to choose a new LDP president will begin. Five candidates are vying for the presidency: Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (64), former Secretary General Toshimitsu Mogi (69), and former Economy and Security Minister Takayuki Kobayashi (50), along with Shinjiro and Sanae Takaichi (64), both popular with the general public.

The five candidates are all the same as in the presidential election a year ago, and none is fresh. Shinjiro, who can be the ‘face of the election’ and boasts the prestige of former Prime Minister Kan’s ties to The Japan Innovation Party and the New Komeito Party, leads the vote for Diet members.

Perhaps reflecting on the fact that he lost support after every debate in the previous presidential election, Shinjiro is considering whether to attend the ASEAN Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting while the presidential election is being held and be absent for a couple of days in the final stages of the presidential election. He is now considering whether he will be away for the last two or three days of the presidential election.

On October 4, the votes of the Diet members and party members will be counted, and a new president will be elected.

However, although a new LDP president will be elected, the prime minister will not take office until after the nomination of a leader in the Diet. In other words, Ishiba will remain prime minister until an extraordinary session of the Diet is held in October and the next prime minister is appointed.

He will not be able to launch any new policies that would involve a budget, but he will continue to speak as prime minister, participating with Foreign Minister Iwaya in a general debate speech at the UN General Assembly in New York in late September. The following week, he will make a visit to South Korea and hold a summit meeting with President Lee Jae-myung. His speeches on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were well received, and he is exploring the possibility of making a discourse on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II,” said a member of the former Kishida faction of the House of Councilors.

Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, 68, who similarly announced his resignation about a year ago, participated in the UN General Assembly as prime minister but refrained from making a speech. He refrained from any flamboyant speech or action until he was succeeded by Mr. Ishiba. What is the reason for the Ishiba administration, which has become a lame duck, to be so active?

If Takaichi and other anti-Ishiba candidates were to become the new president, Ishiba’s efforts to establish a new disaster prevention agency and agricultural policies to increase rice production could be undermined. Even though Takaichi is no longer president, he will remain prime minister for the remainder of the month, and he will need to be active in making statements to retain his influence.

However, depending on the appointments of the three party leaders immediately after Mr. Takaichi assumes the office of the new president, the elders may give the order to “drop Takaichi. It is obvious that Takaichi, who has a weak base within the party, will face the same situation as the Ishiba administration. If he can actively communicate his message while he is still in office and raise his approval rating when the political situation becomes more fluid in a few months’ time, it will serve as a stepping stone for his reappointment to the post.

It will be interesting to see what Mr. Ishiba will say as prime minister.