Political situation in Japan

Ishiba: Reports of my resignation are completely baseless

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is denying reports that he has decided to resign after Sunday's election fiasco. This is reported by Reuters.

Sources in several media outlets reported on Wednesday morning that Ishiba had already made up his mind, but those statements are "completely baseless," he says.

A source close to the prime minister tells the news agency that Ishiba has chosen to stay in office to avoid creating instability during the tariff talks with the United States, which have a deadline of August 1.

Sources: Prime Minister has decided to resign

That Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will resign is inevitable. This is what senior party sources tell the Japanese newspaper Mainichi.

According to Reuters sources, Ishiba made the decision to resign on Wednesday morning.

In the election on Sunday, Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party suffered a major setback, meaning the coalition lost its majority.

According to a poll by the Kyodo News news agency, support for the government has plummeted to 23 percent after the election loss – the lowest figure since Ishiba took office in October.

The crisis for the Japanese government — it's about the matter

• The price of rice in Japan has almost doubled compared to last year, putting very heavy pressure on the government.
• Japan's agriculture minister resigned in May 2025 after criticism of a statement that he had "never had to buy rice".
• In the election on July 20, the governing coalition lost its majority in the upper house.
• At the same time, the new populist party Sanseito increased from two to fifteen seats in the upper house.
• Several experts believe that the opposition's promises of tax breaks and improved welfare attracted voters away from the government, which is increasingly associated with rising living costs.