The Japanese Parliament elected Shigeru Ishiba as the new Prime Minister to replace Kishida

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Kishida and his ministers resigned at a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning. Kishida left his office after a brief send-off ceremony in which he was presented with a bouquet of red roses and applauded by his staff and former cabinet members.

“As we face a critical moment at home and abroad, I look forward to the new cabinet vigorously pursuing the key policies that will pave the way for Japan’s future,” Kishida said in a statement. , such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, economic and political reforms at home while tackling a declining birth rate and population.

Ishiba announced his party leaders before naming his cabinet. Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who finished third in the party’s leadership race, will head the party’s election working group. He is expected to appoint defense experts Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister and General Nakatani as defense chief.

Most of his cabinet ministers, like Ishiba, are expected to remain unaffiliated with factions led and controlled by party heavyweights.

The liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper said Ishiba’s lack of a stable power base could also signal the weakness of his government, and although Ishiba believes it will “collapse soon,” it could build party unity as it prepares for upcoming elections.

The move is also seen as revenge for Ishiba, who was largely sidelined for much of Abe’s rule.

Ishiba has proposed an Asian version of the NATO military alliance, and further discussion among regional partners about the use of the US nuclear deterrent. He also proposed an equitable Japan-US defense alliance, including joint management of US bases in Japan and having Japanese self-defense forces bases in the US.

Ishiba outlined his views in an article for Hudson last week.

“With no collective defense organization like NATO in Asia, wars are likely to break out as there is no mutual defense obligation. Under these circumstances, the creation of an Asian version of NATO to deter China by its Western allies is imperative,” he wrote.

Ishiba proposes to merge existing security and diplomatic groups such as the Quad and other bilateral and multilateral structures that include the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines.

He also noted that the Asian version of NATO could also consider sharing control of US nuclear weapons in the region against growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.

On Friday, Ishiba urged Japan to strengthen its defenses, citing recent violations of Japanese airspace by Russian and Chinese warplanes and North Korea’s repeated missile launches.

He pledged to continue Kishida’s economic policy, which aimed to lift Japan out of deflation and achieve higher real wages, while tackling challenges such as Japan’s declining birthrate and population and its ability to withstand natural disasters.

The LDP has had an almost unbroken term of office ruling Japan since World War II. Party members may see Ishiba’s centrist views as key to fending off challenges from the liberal-leaning opposition and winning voter support as the party reels from corruption scandals that dented Kishida’s popularity.

First elected to parliament in 1986, Ishiba has served as defense minister, agriculture minister and other key cabinet posts, and was LDP secretary-general under Abe.

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