Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a meeting of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers on July 28. (Takayuki Kakuno)

The ruling coalition’s drubbing in the July 20 Upper House election and its severe bruising in the Lower House poll last autumn were votes of no-confidence against not only Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, but also his Liberal Democratic Party.

Efforts to revitalize the party will be precarious if that fact is not faced directly and lawmakers engage in an internal struggle over whether Ishiba should go.

At an informal meeting of party lawmakers on July 28 that lasted more than four hours, Ishiba reiterated his intention to stay on.

However, Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama indicated he would resign to take responsibility for the election outcome after a report is compiled analyzing those results.

Still, many of those at the meeting called for Ishiba to step down.

That led LDP executives to decide on July 29 to hold a joint plenary meeting of Diet members that has the authority to vote on important matters.

Seeing as Ishiba failed to attain his goal of maintaining the ruling coalition’s majority in the Upper House, the prime minister naturally must take some responsibility.

But the situation is not one in which the public will be appeased simply by replacing the head of the party.

A survey by The Asahi Shimbun over the last weekend asked respondents to choose from two options regarding the cause of the LDP defeat.

Eighty-one percent said it was due to problems with the LDP overall, while only 10 percent blamed Ishiba.

Even among respondents who said they supported the LDP, about 80 percent blamed the party for the disastrous election result.

Distrust of the LDP began after questions were raised about its long relationship with the former Unification Church, now known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, after the assassination of Shinzo Abe, who served for many years as prime minister.

Subsequently, it was revealed that LDP factions, including the largest one once led by Abe, had accumulated massive amounts of cash through fund-raising parties.

The scandal led to the resignation of Fumio Kishida as prime minister.

And still the party has yet to free itself of the negativity resulting from the money scandal and its past ties with the Unification Church.

If lawmakers who were involved in both scandals are now seen calling for Ishiba’s resignation, it would come across as nothing more than their attempt to transfer responsibility as a way of returning to a position of power.

Even though Ishiba was a member of the anti-mainstream when Abe was prime minister, he has failed to take a scalpel to the ills of the LDP and been unable to bring about comprehensive reform.

The public no doubt concluded that the LDP would not change regardless of who led it.

Sanseito and other parties greatly increased their seat presence in the Upper House election.

Sanseito called for strengthening restrictions against foreigners. The call stems from the lack of effort during the Abe administration to create a society of co-existence even as it pushed for a massive increase of foreign workers.

If the LDP intends to keep control of government, it must first squarely face the dissatisfaction and distrust expressed by voters.

To accomplish this, it will need to hold meaningful discussions about the type of structure needed to implement policies to prevent fragmentation in society and then make every effort to gain the understanding of the public.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 30

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