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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's statement on the 14th was unexpected, but not surprising. There are many people who think this way.

A regime that loses the trust of its people and cannot come up with a concrete plan to regain their trust is doomed to fail.

Kishida held a press conference on the 14th and said: "We will show the LDP's willingness to seek change, and that starts with my withdrawal." However, the real reason may be that he was defeated by the voices within the party that "Kishida cannot win the election" and had to give up running for election.

On August 14, local time, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would not participate in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in September. (Visual China)

The former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also failed to keep his promise to the people and gave up the presidential election. At that time, Suga was mainly questioned for his poor COVID-19 prevention and control. After that, the cabinet's support rate dropped, and the Liberal Democratic Party lost in local elections one after another, and finally fell into a desperate situation. The difference is that Suga experienced this series of changes within a year, while Kishida took three years.

When running for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida said: "The public trust that is the foundation of politics is facing a serious collapse, and our country's democracy is in crisis." He promised to present a "reborn Liberal Democratic Party" after winning the election.

Three years later, people's trust in politics is once again in crisis, and the LDP is desperate for a rebirth. What a irony. The LDP led by Kishida is probably showing only deep-seated problems.

Kishida "ended" the matter by resigning from his post.Although he hopes that the LDP will form a "real dream team" under the leadership of the new president and achieve "politics that resonates with the people", there is no guarantee that this is not just a stopgap measure.

What really made Kishida lose the support of the people was undoubtedly his poor handling of the "black gold" incident. His statement at the press conference that "he made a major decision for the people" was really shocking.

Perhaps in order to change the strong ruling style of Abe and Suga Yoshihide, Kishida has been vigorously advocating "good listening" and "policy of courtesy and tolerance." However, in the summer of the previous year, the Kishida government decided to hold a "state funeral" for former Prime Minister Abe who was shot dead. In the face of polarized public opinion, Kishida acted arbitrarily without consulting the parliament.

Since then, the Kishida government has changed a series of important policies that are related to the fundamental interests of the country without any discussion among the entire nation.

He took the lead in revising the three security documents, adding content such as "having the ability to attack enemy bases" and "doubling" the defense-related budget, which violated the principle of "exclusive defense." He ignored the lessons of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident and turned to maximize the use of nuclear power plants. Although Kishida boasted to those around him that he had done something that even the Abe administration could not do, it must be said that he had no intention of working hard to reach a broad consensus from the beginning.

The long-standing relationship between the Unification Church, which has attracted much attention due to the assassination of Abe, and the Liberal Democratic Party has also deepened people's distrust of the regime.

Without clarifying the truth, the company only deals with the issue after it happens. This way of solving the problem is exactly the same as the way of dealing with the "black gold" issue.

Kishida has been looking for an opportunity to dissolve the House of Representatives from last year to this year. Although some people pointed out that he wanted to ensure re-election by winning the House of Representatives election before the presidential election, he eventually left the party without winning the trust of the people.

Kishida has already announced his withdrawal from the election, so the LDP presidential election in September is actually an election for a new prime minister. But first of all, it should be made clear that simply replacing an unpopular prime minister as a "party face" will not work.

We must not forget that the public’s distrust is not only directed at Kishida himself, but also at the entire Liberal Democratic Party. The key to the problem is not to change the “facade” but to change the substance.