LDP Lawmakers' Plenary Meeting Eyed for Aug. 8

   Tokyo, July 31 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering holding a general meeting of its lawmakers in both chambers of the Diet, the country's parliament, on or around Aug. 8, a senior party official has revealed.
   The envisaged meeting comes in response to the LDP-led ruling bloc's loss of majority in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, in the July 20 election. Unlike a general meeting of member lawmakers held Monday, the plenary meeting is the LDP's official decision-making organ based on the party's rules.
   While Prime Minister and LDP President Shigeru Ishiba aims to continue seeking understanding for his plan to stay on, moves to oust him from power are unabated.
   The party's leadership team decided to hold a plenary meeting in hopes to avoid giving the impression that it was pressured into doing so, amid moves by members of the now-defunct LDP faction led by former party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi to gather signatures to call for convening such a meeting with an aim to urge Ishiba to step down.
   On Tuesday, state minister of agriculture Hiroyoshi Sasagawa, a member of the former Motegi faction, who is playing a central role in the signature-gathering campaign, and others urged Haruko Arimura, chair of the plenary meeting, to discuss issues concerning Ishiba's possible resignation.

(2025/07/31-10:29)

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