Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday he will not run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election slated for September, guaranteeing that Japan will have a new prime minister after the LDP’s leadership race.
“The easiest way to clearly show that the LDP has changed is for me to step aside,” Kishida said at a news conference shortly after the news broke. “I won’t be running in the upcoming LDP presidential election.”
“The government won’t be able to push key policies forward unless there is sufficient trust in politics and politicians,” he said, explaining the reasoning behind his decision.