Prime Minister of Japan Ishiba Shigeru announces the resignation

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced on Sunday that he would withdraw from his post after weeks of increasing pressure for his resignation.

“I made a difficult decision to resign,” said Ishiba during a press briefing, in comments translated by the Japanese public broadcaster NHK. He added that he was his “strong wish” for the members of his liberal democratic party (LDP) to overcome the “difficult fracture” within the party.

Ishiba said he was thinking about his post as Prime Minister since last year’s election, but that it was a good time. The Prime Minister added that he had been able to announce his resignation when he saw that certain results were delivered with an American tariff agreement.

The Prime Minister called on the LDP to organize an emergency leadership race in which he said he will not participate. He will continue his functions until a new successor is found, he told journalists.

The fourth world economy has been plagued by political uncertainty since the LDP lost its majority in Parliament during an election at the end of last year. The election has marked the first time since 2009 that the LDP has lost its majority. The pressure rose when the Japanese leader coalition lost control of the upper room in July.

Japan had trouble achieving a trade agreement with the United States and protecting its massive automotive sector from high tasks. President Donald Trump signed an executive decree on Thursday to implement a commercial agreement with Japan, with basic prices of 15% on most Japanese products, including cars.

The agreement was agreed after months of negotiations, Washington and Tokyo continuing to haggle details for weeks before his signature. On Sunday, Japan tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said that the agreement was not “settled” because the United States was not yet issued by the presidential orders on tasks for pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, Reuters reported.

Earlier this week, the Liberal Democratic Party in power published a long-awaited report on the reasons why it lost seats in the upper Chamber elections in July.

The report has attributed the loss of the absence of appeal to the measures of the party aimed at taming inflation, previous political scandals and the low mobilization of young voters.

Local media reports suggested that many key members of the LDP had reported their intention to resign to the Prime Minister, while ISHIBA said that he intended to stay in the midst of calls for his party for choosing another leader.

– Anniek Bao of CNBC contributed to this report.