Japan’s LDP Delays Election Review, Buying Ishiba Time Amid Leadership Doubts

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has agreed to postpone its assessment of July’s Upper House election until early September, citing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s crowded schedule of summit diplomacy, including the just-ended Tokyo International Conference on African Development and planned meetings with South Korean and Indian leaders. The review had been slated for late August. Party officials say the delay gives Ishiba, who is under pressure to quit after the LDP’s heavy losses, a temporary reprieve. The next flashpoint is expected once the report is finished. LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama has hinted he could step down after the findings are released, a move that would intensify speculation over Ishiba’s own future. Analysts see the early-September timeline as critical for determining whether the prime minister can survive through the autumn Diet session. Across the aisle, the Constitutional Democratic Party convened a joint meeting of its 89 Diet members on 22 August to debate its own draft post-mortem. Although the CDP kept its 22 contested seats, lawmakers criticised the result as a defeat for failing to capitalise on voter discontent with the government and demanded accountability from party leader Yoshihiko Noda and other executives. The leadership plans to revise the document and seek formal approval as soon as next week. July’s ballot reshuffled the political landscape: the LDP fell below a single-party majority in the chamber, while smaller groups such as the Democratic Party for the People and the nationalist Sanseito advanced. Both major parties now face internal reckonings that are likely to shape any realignments ahead of the next general election.