On 1 September 2008, Fukuda announced his resignation, citing reasons related to improving the flow of the political process.
The sudden announcement began with a call for an emergency press conference issued at 6:00 pm, The purpose not disclosed until 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the press conference.
The resignation was widely compared to the sudden resignation of Abe a year earlier.
Fukuda said that while Abe's resignation was due to health reasons, his own resignation was motivated by a desire to remove impediments to legislative and political process due to deadlock between his party and the opposition-controlled upper house of the Diet.


The resignation led to another leadership election within the LDP.
Tarō Asō was viewed as the likely front-runner to replace Fukuda, and was elected a week later.
His popularity was hit by a controversial medical plan for elderly people, falling below 30% at one stage.
He said:
Today, I have decided to resign.
We need a new line-up to cope with a new session of parliament.
My decision is based on what I thought the future political situation ought to be.
The Democratic Party has tried to stall every bill so it has taken a long time to implement any policies.
For the sake of the Japanese people, this should not be repeated.
If we are to prioritize the people's livelihoods, there cannot be a political vacuum from political bargaining, or a lapse in policies.
We need a new team to carry out policies.

Taro Aso was elected to succeed Fukuda as LDP President on 22 September.
Fukuda and his cabinet resigned en masse on 24 September 2008, to make way for a new Cabinet headed by Aso.
Aso was elected as Prime Minister by the House of Representatives on the same day.
On 1 September 2008, Fukuda announced his resignation, citing reasons related to improving the flow of the political process. The sudden announcement began with a call for an emergency press conference issued at 6:00 pm, The purpose not disclosed until 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the press conference. The resignation was widely compared to the sudden resignation of Abe a year earlier. Fukuda said that while Abe's resignation was due to health reasons, his own resignation was motivated by a desire to remove impediments to legislative and political process due to deadlock between his party and the opposition-controlled upper house of the Diet.

The resignation led to another leadership election within the LDP. Tarō Asō was viewed as the likely front-runner to replace Fukuda, and was elected a week later. His popularity was hit by a controversial medical plan for elderly people, falling below 30% at one stage. He said:
Today, I have decided to resign. We need a new line-up to cope with a new session of parliament. My decision is based on what I thought the future political situation ought to be. The Democratic Party has tried to stall every bill so it has taken a long time to implement any policies. For the sake of the Japanese people, this should not be repeated. If we are to prioritize the people's livelihoods, there cannot be a political vacuum from political bargaining, or a lapse in policies. We need a new team to carry out policies.
Taro Aso was elected to succeed Fukuda as LDP President on 22 September. Fukuda and his cabinet resigned en masse on 24 September 2008, to make way for a new Cabinet headed by Aso. Aso was elected as Prime Minister by the House of Representatives on the same day.
Yasuo Fukuda