自民内で首相退陣要求　横浜市連会長「身を引いて」

　自民党横浜市連が４日に同市内で開いた会合で幹部から、「党の顔」を代えるために岸田文雄首相（総裁）の退陣を求める声が上がった。党支持率の低下を踏まえたもので、首相に対する党内の厳しい空気を示した。
　発言したのは市連会長で横浜市議の佐藤茂氏。現状を「（自民が下野した）２００９年の政権交代時に匹敵する」と指摘した上で、「政治資金規正法改正にめどが付いた今、総裁自ら身を引く苦渋の決断をし、強いリーダーシップの取れる新進気鋭の総裁を選び、変革の証しを示さなければならない」と訴えた。
　会合に出席した小泉進次郎元環境相（神奈川県連会長）も０９年の衆院選に触れ、「あの時より怖い。一人ひとりが危機感を持って変わっていかなければいけない」と強調した。（2024/06/04-21:41）

A senior local official of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has urged Prime Minister and LDP President Fumio Kishida to step down to change "the party's face" at a time when it is struggling amid low public support due to a high-profile slush fund scandal.
   "The situation (surrounding the LDP) is as severe as in 2009," when the party lost power, Shigeru Sato, head of the LDP chapter in Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, said at a meeting of the chapter held in the city Tuesday.
   "The LDP president needs to make a bitter decision to step aside now that the enactment of an amendment to the political funds control law is in sight, and a new up-and-coming party president with strong leadership skills should be elected to demonstrate the LDP's determination for a change," Sato, also a member of the Yokohama city assembly, added.
   Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, head of the LDP's Kanagawa prefectural chapter who was present at the meeting, touched on the 2009 general election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, and said, "The situation is tougher than at the time, so each and every LDP member must change with a sense of crisis."
   The 2009 election resulted in the LDP suffering a humiliating defeat, leading to the party being ousted from power.