September 3, 2025
Tokyo – Four Liberal Democratic executives said they intend to resign on Tuesday to be responsible for the failure of the July general election.
Freedom Advisory Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama announced that he was willing to resign, but he would leave it to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is also the president of the self-service department, to make the final decision.
Moriyama, 80, spoke at a press conference after a general meeting of shareholders of two Chambers’ shareholders’ diet members held in the afternoon. On July 28, he proposed the idea of resigning at an informal meeting of party members.
Also on Tuesday, Chairman of the Policy Research Council Itnori Onodera, 65, Chairman of the General Council Shunichi Suzuki told Ishiba that they intend to resign. Seiji Kihara, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Election Strategy Committee, also resigned to Ishiba.
Earlier Tuesday, the LDCs’ working group adopted a summary document reviewing the party’s failure.
The document said at the shareholders’ meeting that it would “rebuild a political party from scratch.” It did not mention the responsibility of Isbon and party executives in the election failure.
As a reason for the failure, the document states that party support has declined based on the low level of approval in the cabinet, citing shrinking bases for voters in support of the Nature Party. The document said the party failed to consolidate the reduced support base, highlighting the support of younger generations, working-age people to their 50s, while parts of the conservative base have been moved to other parties.
Regarding the factors driving voters out of natural life, the document states, “The harsh reality is that many citizens have violated faction-related violations of the Political Fund Control Act.
Regarding the cash appropriations guaranteed during the campaign, the document concluded that the party “cannot oppose the arguments easily understood by the opposition” to reduce taxes.
The document also found that the party responded too slowly to respond to losers related to the election campaign and to address misinformation on social media.
As a measure of improvement, the document outlines plans to build a professional team to break down the policy into “message that resonates with the public” and strengthen the party’s social media outreach.
“We will work hard to restart ourselves as if we are abandoning our own things and starting fresh, firmly determined to rebuild our party from scratch and reborn as a true national party,” the document reads.
At the end of the three-hour general meeting, the party’s presidential election management committee is now tasked with confirming whether presidential elections should be held in advance. Members supporting the move will submit their signatures and seal documents by Monday. If most dietary members and representatives of county branches demanded a speed-up of elections, it would be held before the expiration of Ishiba’s presidency.
Ishiba apologizes for failure
“As the president of the party, I am responsible for a lot of things [of the party’s candidates] “I failed and I can never escape the fact that I have failed. I offer the deepest apology for my incompetence.”
He added: “It is my responsibility to make the right decision at the right time.”
