[ad_1]
“I have decided to resign as prime minister,” Sh.Abe, 65, told a news conference. The prime minister added that he suffered from recurrent ulcerative colitis, forcing him to end his first term early.
The message, first announced by public broadcaster NHK and other media outlets, was confirmed Friday morning by senior officials from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Sh.Abe explained that he had been prescribed a new treatment and that it would not be enough time to fulfill his duties if he did it regularly.
“As I can no longer reliably fulfill the mandate given to me by the people, I have decided not to take over as prime minister,” he said.
Sh.Abe is expected to continue to lead the government until his ruling Liberal Democratic Party elects a successor. Both legislators and ordinary party members are likely to participate in these elections.
As of yet, there is no clear consensus to replace Sh.Abe. Possible candidates include Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, who also owns the Finance Minister’s portfolio, or Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
The prime minister apologized to his compatriots for his early retirement.
“I would like to sincerely apologize to the Japanese people for leaving office one year before the end of my term, for the continuing concerns about the coronavirus while various policies continue to be implemented,” Sh said. Abe, and bowed deeply.
Rumors about the prime minister’s prickly health have circulated for several weeks, especially in recent days, when Sh.Abe visited the hospital twice to undergo tests that were not published at the time.
The prime minister took three days off this month, and on August 17 he went to hospital without warning, where he spent more than seven hours before undergoing health exams.
A week later, he visited the same hospital for more tests and said he intended to continue working.
In a country famous for its short-term tenure, Sh.Abe’s resignation marks the end of an unusually long period of stability. The nationalist Sh.Abe has established close ties with US President Donald Trump, but his policies have infuriated North Korea, South Korea and China.
Still, Sh.Abe did not achieve his goal of formally rewriting the pacifist constitution written for the United States by Japan after World War II, as this aspiration did not receive sufficient public support.
In 2006, at the age of 52, Sh.Abe became the youngest prime minister of Japan. He is a member of a family that stands out in the country’s politics: Sh.
During his leadership, Sh.Abe often emphasized his desire to make Japan a “normal” and “beautiful” state with a stronger military and a more significant role in international affairs.
Shabe’s resignation for health reasons wouldn’t be his first: In 2007, he resigned after serving as head of government for just one year during his first term.
The politician was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, but when he returned to power in 2012, Sh.Abe said his disease was being successfully treated with new drugs.
Confirmed by news of the prime minister’s resignation, it contradicts a statement made by government spokesman Yoshihide Suga on Friday morning that Sh.Abe is in good health.
“I see him every day and it seems to me that his condition has not changed in any way,” Suga told reporters during a regular press conference.
A government spokesman told Bloomberg on Thursday that Sh. Abe could “certainly” work until the end of his term in September 2021.
“It will be fine,” said the official.
Still, health problems seemed to pressure Sh.Abe, who this week became the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history.
Although the impact of the new coronavirus in Japan has been quite limited, Sh.Abe’s government has received harsh criticism for its response to the crisis, including an exchange of views on the payment of aid and the ridiculous decision to hand over two masks of fabric to every home.
The prime minister’s economic policy, known as Abenomica, was also increasingly rebuked by the country’s recession before the coronavirus crisis began.
Still, experts said the ruling Liberal Democratic Party would not want Sh.Abe to resign prematurely, especially since there is no consensus yet on who could become his successor.
Japan’s fragmented opposition has so far also failed to take advantage of the government’s declining popularity ratings, so there has been little pressure on Sh.Abe to resign.
An unexpected resignation scenario opens up a variety of possibilities. The government may be temporarily taken over by Deputy Prime Minister T. Aso, who also owns the Finance Minister’s portfolio, or by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
Subsequent elections of the party leader could bring a full heir to power.
Both T.Aso and Y.Suga and several other former and current Cabinet members were mentioned as possible candidates.
[ad_2]
