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Japan
This Week in AsiaPolitics

After ‘really shocking’ LDP losses in Japan’s special elections, can Fumio Kishida survive as PM?

  • Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered heavy defeats in weekend by-elections, signalling deep public discontent with Kishida’s leadership
  • The prime minister now faces mounting pressure amid calls for him to resign immediately – and a looming LDP presidency vote later this year

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Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a news conference in Tokyo last year. After a tumultuous year of scandals and poor election results over the weekend, his rivals look to be circling. Photo: AFP
Julian Ryall
A disastrous showing by Japan’s ruling party in three special elections at the weekend has reignited doubts over Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s tenuous grip on power, with the country’s leader expected to need a political miracle to remain in office.
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Observers say the elections results were a resounding demonstration of how little faith the Japanese people have in their leaders, after a tumultuous year of scandals for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), including revelations about its links to the controversial Unification Church and ongoing fallout from the extensive slush-funds scandal.

Kishida, the current LDP president, may not have been directly implicated in the misappropriation of funds, but his inability to get the party in order has given voters the distinct impression that he is weak. With an election for the party’s presidency set for September, analysts believe his rivals may begin to circle.

“He is in a very tough situation, and he is going to find it difficult to hang on,” said Hiromi Murakami, a political-science professor at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.

“The election result in Shimane prefecture was really shocking because that is meant to be one of the LDP’s heartlands,” she told This Week In Asia. “If the party cannot keep those sorts of seats, then you have to ask how he is going to turn this around.”

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However, the party was more confident about retaining Shimane’s No. 1 district, a long-standing conservative bastion, where the special election was triggered by the death of Hiroyuki Hosoda, the former speaker of the lower house.

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