Is this what Prime Minister Ishiba intended ? LDP suffers crushing defeat in both House of Representatives and House of Councillors elections
As I wrote last time, I feel that Prime Minister Ishiba is a destroyer of Japan.
In other words, he is also a destroyer of his own party, the Liberal Democratic Party(hereinafter called LDP) of Japan.
It’s completely unclear what he wants to do for Japan.
This is about when Prime Minister Ishiba was a Diet member, and opposition parties and their supporters became increasingly dissatisfied with how the then-prime minister handled certain issues.
In interviews, Ishiba-san probably talked about what he would do if he has been prime minister, keeping the opposition and their supporters in mind. But I remember being completely unable to understand what he was actually trying to say.
Even now as prime minister, when he talks about reducing taxes, pensions, rice issues, and such in interviews, I still can’t understand what he actually wants to achieve. Maybe it’s just my lack of understanding…
In our opinion, while Prime Minister Ishiba says he wants to “improve people’s lives”, it feels like he’s only considering protecting their own vested interests within the old system. We especially felt he seemed to prioritize our neighboring country.
Despite citizens becoming unable to afford rice due to its skyrocketing prices, the then-Minister of Agriculture, Eto stated “I have never bought rice myself.” This statement seemed to declare that this cabinet was oblivious to the people’s suffering.
Also, the release of the government stockpiled rice during Minister of Agriculture Eto’s time adopted a bidding system with stricter conditions for purchasing companies, allowing JA Agricultural Cooperative to secure 94% of the total at high prices. Eventually, this government stockpiled rice hardly entered circulation, and prices did not drop.
This cabinet chose JA Agricultural Cooperatives which was also a cause of the rice price skyrocketing, over the lives of the people. This stance makes us feel they only wanted to protect vested interests.
The National Democratic Party’s bill to abolish the provisional gasoline tax rate was also scrapped.
We got the strong impression that Prime Minister Ishiba has no intention of reducing taxes.
Recently, we often hear about pension reform (or rather, pension deterioration ?).
We believe reforming lawmakers’ pensions should come first.
Do you really think Prime Minister Ishiba wants to win this election ?
That’s why we call Prime Minister Ishiba a destroyer of Japan and the LDP.
The Achievements of Prime Minister Ishiba
Prime Minister Ishiba’s first major achievement is the crushing defeat in the recent House of Representatives election.
Recently, he has shown no strategy or resistance to the US’s planned 25% tariff on Japanese imports. Shouting “We won’t be pushed around!” domestically accomplishes nothing.
And now, the historic defeat in the House of Councillors election.
What surprised us is that Prime Minister Ishiba has stated his “strong intention to continue in his post.”
Prime Minister Ishiba’s aim may be to invite the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan into a coalition government and form a left-wing cabinet.
Reference: NHK(2025/07/20)
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250519/k10014809801000.html
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250621/k10014840431000.html
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20250720/k10014869231000.html
Reference: NIKKEI(2025/07/20)
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA2195D0R20C25A3000000
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA09CVE0Z00C25A7000000
Reference: YOMIURI ONLINE(2025/07/20)
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/20250509-OYT1T50144
Reference: THE SANKEI SHINBUN(2025/07/20)
https://www.sankei.com/article/20250402-7J5ROQ3YVVAC3PQ3XWUOIYKRUU
Thanks.
2025/07/20