The reason the former Liberal Democratic Party's Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba resigned as the head of his faction is because he cannot see any prospect of success in the party's presidential election next fall. The resignation has led to a widespread view within the faction that it will be difficult for him to even run in the election. It appears that this non-mainstream faction that can speak out against the administration has reached an impasse in its approach.
"I want to resign from the position of faction head."
At a special meeting of the faction on Thursday, Ishiba looked down at a sheet of paper he had prepared and explained his decision in a matter-of-fact manner.
After the LDP presidential election in September, Ishiba had individually met with all of his faction's lawmakers and exchanged views on future directions. Although some lawmakers, particularly the younger generation, urged him to run again next time, many were expressing views that he should refrain from running, according to a senior member of his faction.
Many considered it to be difficult to gain public support if Ishiba were to run against Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet, which was launched with high approval ratings.
The Ishiba faction has 19 Diet members, so it is unable to gather the 20 endorsements necessary to run for the LDP presidency on its own. Some within the faction voiced concern that repeatedly losing the battle would lead to losing the support of lawmakers from other factions who had supported Ishiba.
In fact, the highest number of votes Ishiba received from Diet members was 89 in the 2012 LDP presidential election. The number of Diet member votes declined to 73 in 2018 and 26 this year, making clear the limitations of his non-mainstream approach.
"I will do my best to support the Suga administration," Ishiba said at Thursday's meeting, sealing off his criticism of the administration. The aim is to make a comeback by amending the stance of "an opposition within the party." A senior member of the Ishiba faction said, "By supporting the prime minister, we are leaving a path open for Ishiba to become a candidate to succeed him."
There are many policy experts within the faction, including former agriculture minister Ken Saito and former Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita, who were appointed to cabinet posts in the Abe administration despite being relatively young. Ishiba had said to people around him, "I want to make sure faction members can thrive in the future," so he may have made this move to avoid the members getting snubbed.
However, if Ishiba loses his centripetal force, lawmakers may leave the faction one after other. Ishiba has not made his stance on the upcoming presidential election known, but according to a senior member of the faction, many within the faction believe that he will not run for president now that he has resigned as head of his faction. Unlike traditional factions such as the Hosoda faction and the Takeshita faction, the Ishiba faction was formed for the purpose of making him prime minister, and some have expressed concern about its continued existence.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
