Japanese Prime Minister Kishida resigns as planned before Ishiba’s likely successor takes office

Japanprime minister Fumio Kishida he stepped down as planned, allowing a successor Shigeru Ishiba take office.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Kishida and his ministers resigned at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
Earlier on Friday, Ishiba was elected to the ruling position Liberal Democratic Partyleader to replace Kishida, who announced his resignation in August at the end of his three-year term.
The ruling coalition of Ishiba’s party dominates the parliament, hence the certainty that he will become prime minister on Tuesday.
The new cabinet will be announced by Ishiba on the same day.
After his government was marred by scandal allegations, Kishida decided to step down to gain a new face. He took office in 2021.
Ishiba announced on Monday that after being formally elected prime minister, he plans to call parliamentary elections for October 27.
Before appointing his cabinet, he announced the party leaders.
Shinjiro Koizumi, who previously served as environment minister and was third in the party leadership race, was appointed to head the election task force.
Once in office, the new leader will likely appoint Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister and Gen. Nakatani as defense chief. These elections are expected to place defense specialists and trusted collaborators in key positions.
On Friday, Japan’s Ishiba stressed the need to strengthen its security. He cited recent violations of Japanese airspace by Russian and Chinese warplanes and continued missile launches by North Korea.
Ishiba pledged to continue the economic policies set by Prime Minister Kishida. The goal of this policy is to pull Japan out of deflation and achieve real wage increases. He also addressed the challenges of Japan’s declining birth rate, population and resilience to natural disasters.