Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he will not run in the upcoming party leadership vote. It means Japan will have a new prime minister when his three-year term expires next month.

Kishida was elected president of his governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2021 and his term expires in September.

Kishida dropping out of the race means a new leader who wins the party vote will succeed him as prime minister because the LDP controls both houses of parliament.

Stung by his party’s corruption scandals, Kishida has suffered dwindling support and his rating have dipped below 20 per cent.

He was set to explain his decision at a media conference later Wednesday.

Some in party want fresh face at helm

Local election losses earlier in the year eroded his clout, and LDP lawmakers have voiced the need for a fresh face ahead of the next general election.

Since the corruption scandal broke, Kishida has removed a number of cabinet ministers and others from party executive posts and dissolved party factions that were criticized as the source of money-for-favour politics.

But support for his government has dwindled.

The scandal centres on unreported political funds raised through tickets sold for party events. It involved more than 80 LDP lawmakers, mostly belonging to a major party faction previously led by former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022.

Ten people — lawmakers and their aides — were indicted in January.