TOKYO — Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his intention on Sunday to step down following growing calls from his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July's parliamentary election, Japan's NHK public television reported.

Ishiba, who took office in October, had resisted growing calls from within his own party to resign for more than a month, saying such a step would cause a political vacuum when Japan faces key challenges in and outside the country.

His resignation plan comes a day before his Liberal Democratic Party makes a divisive decision on whether to hold an early leadership election, a virtual no-confidence motion against him if approved.

Ishiba intends to step down to prevent the party from getting divided further, NHK said. If he had stayed on,

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