Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba decides to resign to avoid party split: Reports
Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has reportedly decided to resign in an effort to avoid a potential split within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), local media outlets reported on Sunday.
Ishiba, 68, took charge of the LDP less than a year ago but has faced mounting challenges, including a loss of majority in both houses of parliament and widespread voter dissatisfaction over rising living costs.
Public broadcaster NHK said Ishiba made the decision to avoid a split in the party, while the Asahi Shimbun daily said he was unable to withstand the mounting calls for his resignation, as reported by news agency AFP.
Reports suggested that Japan’s agricultural minister and a former prime minister met with Ishiba on Saturday evening to persuade him to resign.
LDP lawmakers and regional officials across Japan advocating for a new leadership election are expected to submit a formal request on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office has not yet issued any official statement regarding the resignation reports.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress demands PM Modi to come clean on 'disclosures' on him made in Epstein files
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Sunday demanded answers from Narendra Modi following “disclosures” in the Epstein files in the US that some “monsters” had access to him, and said the prime minister should come clean on the issue.
Congress general secretary in charge of organisation, K C Venugopal, said in a post on X, "The reports of the new batch of Epstein Files are a huge wake-up call about the kind of monsters who have access to PM Modi, and how susceptible he is to foreign manipulation.
"The Congress demands that the prime minister personally come clean on these disturbing disclosures that raise serious questions.”
“Has he met Jeffrey Epstein? Or did he send someone to meet him? What did his conversations with Epstein involve,” the Congress leader asked.
The Epstein files are thousands of pages of documents related to two criminal investigations into sex trafficking by financier Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, including travel logs, recordings, and emails, which have been a topic of conversation since Epstein died in custody in 2019.
Venugopal claimed equally concerning was a report that while India’s foreign policy was changing dramatically, Prime Minister Modi was “dancing and singing” to the tunes of “tainted” individuals like Epstein to “benefit foreign powers”.
“People of India deserve an answer,” Venugopal said.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, "The prime minister himself must clarify.”
Congress leader Pawan Khera also asked whether Modi was in touch with a "disgraceful" American such as Epstein right around the 2019 elections.
On Saturday, the BJP accused the Congress of spreading misinformation against Prime Minister Modi by "twisting" a generic email fragment of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein into a political smear, asserting that there is "zero evidence" of any direct or indirect interaction between the two.
The Ministry of External Affairs strongly rejected a reference to Modi in the investigative files related to Epstein, describing it as "little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal" that deserves to be dismissed with the "utmost contempt".
