Japan's Kishida steps down as PM, paving way for likely successor Ishiba

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has resigned from his Cabinet, paving the way for his likely successor, Shigeru Ishiba, to take office.

"I believe it is important to have the new administration get the public's judgment as soon as possible," Ishiba said Monday in announcing his plan to call a snap election.

Opposition parties criticised Ishiba for allowing only a short period of time for his policies to be examined and discussed in parliament before the vote.

Ishiba was chosen as the governing Liberal Democratic Party's leader on Friday to replace Kishida, who announced in August he would resign at the end of his three-year term.

Ishiba is assured of becoming prime minister later on Tuesday in a vote by parliament because it is dominated by his party's ruling coalition.

Kishida and his ministers stepped down at a Cabinet meeting in the morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on early Tuesday.

Diplomatic role

Hayashi, who is Kishida's top confidante, said the world has high expectations for Japan's diplomatic role, noting a deepening global divide over Russia's war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.

"We hope the next administration will pursue an active and powerful diplomacy while placing importance on (Japan's) main pillars such as achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific," Hayashi said.

Ishiba's lack of a stable power base could mean a fragility of his government, and "could quickly collapse" even though Ishiba hopes to build up party unity as it prepares for the upcoming election, the liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper said.

The move is also seen as a revenge by Ishiba, who was largely pushed to the side during most of Shinzo Abe's reign.

Asian NATO

Ishiba has proposed an Asian version of the NATO military alliance and more discussion among regional partners about the use of the US nuclear deterrence. He also suggested a more equal Japan-US security alliance, including joint management of US bases in Japan and having Japanese Self-Defense Force bases in the United States.

Ishiba outlined his views in an article for the Hudson Institute last week. "The absence of a collective self-defence system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defence. Under these circumstances, the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China from its Western allies," he wrote.

Ishiba proposes combining existing security and diplomatic groupings, such as the Quad and other bilateral and multilateral frameworks involving the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines.

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