The secretary general of Japan’s ruling LDP party, Hiroshi Moriyama, announced his intention to step down after the setback in July. Moriyama is often regarded as the party’s No. 2 figure and is a close aide to prime minister Ishiba. That’s a major blow to the prime minister and continues to cast doubt over his future despite him being adamant that he won’t be stepping down.

In joining Moriyama, we are likely to see the general council chairperson of the party, Shunichi Suzuki, also resign from his post. Kyodo News is reporting that will be the case and this will just inflict more political uncertainty on how the incumbent government is going to carry on in this capacity.