Tokyo, Sept 8: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has announced his resignation as president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), just weeks after its ruling coalition suffered a historic defeat in a July election.Ishibaâs decision to step down on Sunday comes after he initially resisted calls from within his party to resign over the electoral loss, saying he wanted to make sure that a tariff deal struck with the United States was appropriately implemented.
âWith Japan having signed the trade agreement and the [US] president having signed the executive order, we have passed a key hurdle,â Ishiba said on Sunday.
âI would like to pass the baton to the next generation,â he added.
Ishiba will remain as prime minister until the party holds elections to replace him as president of the LDP. His resignation deepens the political uncertainty facing the worldâs fourth-largest economy.
After assuming his role last October, the 68-year-old politician saw electoral defeats wipe out his coalitionâs majority in both houses of parliament.
The losses, stoked by votersâ concerns about the rising cost of living, made it more difficult for Ishibaâs government to implement its policy objectives.
Amid the countryâs growing political instability, Ishiba was urged to resign by mostly right-wing opponents within his party, who viewed him as responsible for the results of Julyâs House of Councillors election.
Reports suggested that Japanâs agricultural minister and a former prime minister met Ishiba on Saturday evening to persuade him to step aside.
After announcing his resignation at a news conference on Sunday, Ishiba said he would begin the process to find his replacement.
Ishibaâs resignation comes just days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to slash tariffs on Japanese car imports from 27.5 percent to 15 percent, formalising an earlier agreement announced in July.
Under its terms, a 15 percent levy will be imposed against most Japanese exports to the US.