Japan set for new PM as Fumio Kishida bows out as party leader

[Pelican Press 0]

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Japan set for new PM as Fumio Kishida bows out as party leader

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will not seek re-election as leader of the ruling ******** Democratic Party (LDP), which he says needs a “new start”.

The 67-year-old LDP veteran is expected to step down as PM after the party elects a new leader in September.

Support for Mr Kishida has fallen after his party was hit by a *********** scandal, and as his government battles rising living costs and a slumping yen.

His approval ratings had plummeted to 15.5% last month – the lowest for a PM in more than a decade.

Within the party, some have doubted whether Mr Kishida can lead the LDP to a win in the next general election due in 2025. The LDP has been in power almost continuously since 1955.

Analysts have told the BBC that Japan is going through a “once-in-a-generation” political crisis as the ruling party fights to clean up its image.

Last December, four LDP cabinet ministers resigned within a fortnight over a fundraising scandal involving the ruling party’s most powerful faction.

Five senior vice-ministers and a parliamentary vice-minister from the same faction, formerly led by the late PM Shinzo Abe, also quit.

Japan’s prosecutors have launched a ********* investigation into whether dozens of LDP lawmakers received proceeds from fundraising events that saw millions of dollars kept off official party records.

The scandal unfolded as ********* households struggled with food prices soaring at the fastest rate in almost half a century.

The world’s fifth-largest economy has long remained stagnant – average incomes have not risen in 30 years but its population is ageing rapidly.

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