TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he has no intention of dissolving parliament, two days after his Liberal Democratic Party lost all three lower house seats in by-elections, according to local media.

Kishida told the press on Tuesday that he has "no plan at all" to dissolve the lower house for a snap election and the LDP and the government will "concentrate on achieving results by tackling several issues" such as political funds reform, Kyodo News reported.

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Sunday's House of Representatives by-elections, the first elections since the LDP's slush fund scandal surfaced late last year, were held in Shimane and Nagasaki prefectures, as well as one in Tokyo. The seats were previously held by the conservative LDP before they became vacant.

Kishida acknowledged that the political funds scandal negatively affected the election's outcome and said he "felt sorry" for the candidate

The LDP's only candidate in the three by-elections lost to his rival from the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan in Shimane prefecture, traditionally considered a conservative stronghold, long dominated by the LDP.

Kishida acknowledged that the political funds scandal negatively affected the election's outcome, saying he "felt sorry" for the candidate and took the result "seriously."

Following the opposition's sweeping victories, CDP leader Kenta Izumi said that his party would continue to call for an early election amid growing expectations that the LDP could face a major setback if a general election were held in the near future.

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The current four-year terms for lower house members expire in October 2025, but the prime minister has the right to dissolve parliament beforehand.

The ruling party's crushing defeat could prompt its lawmakers to try to oust Kishida before the next general election, making it difficult for him to seek reelection in the LDP's presidential race around September, according to Kyodo News.