Japanese Prime Minister resigns: This is why he took a big decision

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned on Sunday. Ishiba has taken this step to avoid a split in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japanese media NHK reported this news.

Ishiba's coalition government lost the upper house (House of Councilors) election held in July. Ishiba recently apologized for this and said that he would decide to resign. After the election defeat, the 'remove Ishiba' movement intensified within the LDP. Some party leaders and lawmakers questioned his leadership, which weakened his position. Now, after his removal, the race for a new leadership in the LDP will begin.

Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its allies lost their majority in the country's upper house in elections held in July. However, at the time, he said he would not resign as prime minister. There are a total of 248 seats in the upper house of the Japanese parliament. Ishiba's coalition already had 75 seats. He needed at least 50 new seats in this election to maintain a majority but he could only win 47 seats. Of these, the LDP won 39 seats.

The defeat was another major political setback for PM Ishiba. The coalition was now in the minority in both houses after losing the lower house election in October. The LDP, founded in 1955, is the first time it has lost its majority in both houses.