Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned Friday because a chronic illness resurfaced and he said he did not want it to affect his decision-making.
Abe, 65, has for years suffered from ulcerative colitis, a disease that inflames the bowels. Concerns about Abe’s health began this summer and grew this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified health checkups.
He has had the condition since he was a teenager.
“It is gut-wrenching to have to leave my job before accomplishing my goals,” he said.
Abe’s term ends in September 2021. He is expected to stay on until a new party leader is elected and formally approved by the parliament.
Abe was elected in 2012 and it is the second time he has resigned as prime minister as a result of his battles with ulcerative colitis. He last stepped down in 2007.
He will leave office at a time when his approval ratings hit their lowest levels due to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its severe impact on the economy.
A slew of political scandals have also dented his reputation.
Shigeru Ishiba, a 63-year-old hawkish former defense minister and Abe’s archrival, is a favorite next leader in media surveys, though he is less popular within the ruling party.
A low-key former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Defense Minister Taro Kono, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of coronavirus measures, are also widely speculated in Japanese media as his potential successors.
When he returned to office in 2012, Abe vowed to revitalize the nation and get its economy out of its deflationary doldrums with his “Abenomics” formula, which combines fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.
Source: Today News