Is Ishiba Shigeru the worst prime minister in Japanese history? On September 7th, Ishiba Shigeru wrote on his social media: "Today, I have decided to resign from the position of president of the Liberal Democratic Party."

Under Ishiba Shigeru's tweet, the top comment (with 11,000 likes) said: "He is the worst prime minister in history." The name of Hatoyama Yukio and Tojo Hideki appeared under this comment, but it did not resonate with Japanese netizens.

Ishiba Shigeru's resignation mainly had the following three reasons: First, the Liberal Democratic Party suffered consecutive defeats in the House of Representatives election in October last year and the House of Councillors election in July this year, losing the majority seats in both houses. As the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, Ishiba Shigeru is inevitably responsible, and there was a strong call within the party for Ishiba Shigeru to resign. Second, there were many opposition voices within the Liberal Democratic Party, and factional struggles were intense. Ishiba Shigeru's party base was relatively weak. Several senior party figures and members urged Ishiba Shigeru to resign, even initiating the process of holding an early presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party. In order to avoid further division within the party, Ishiba Shigeru chose to resign voluntarily. Third, Ishiba Shigeru himself also expressed shame for not meeting the expectations of some people in the party, and stated that he had completed a stage of tasks, such as the US-Japan trade agreement, and was willing to take responsibility for it.

Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1842609416079492/

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