The Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, will address growing concerns about his health on Friday after making two hospital visits over the course of a week.
Officials from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have speculated that Abe may not be able to hold off his term, which ends in September 2021, because rumors revolved around the state of his health.
One of his hospital visits lasted nearly eight hours, and he is known to suffer from ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that was partly responsible for forcing him to retire after just one year in his previous term as prime minister in 2007.
Abe made his last hospital visit on the same day he became the longest-serving leader of Japan, breaking the record for consecutive days set by his great-uncle, Eisaku Sato, half a century ago.
LDP allies announced this week that Abe would continue until his term as party president – and as prime minister – ends in September 2021.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said he had met Abe twice a day and had not noticed anything indicating he was in poor health. “It’s too early to talk about ‘post-Abe’ because he has more than a year left in his term,” Suga said this week.
A senior LDP member told Kyodo that Abe’s condition appeared to have flared up again, but that he was “already on hand”. The official, who was not named, added: “I can not imagine him stepping down.”
Akira Amari, a senior party official and close ally, said Abe appeared much healthier than the last time he saw him in mid-August. Abe was “probably mentally exhausted,” Amari said in an interview with Reuters, adding that “his voice was stronger and the color was back in his skin” when he appeared on television Monday.
Media quoted government sources as saying that Abe would consult doctors again on Friday – possibly by telephone – before speaking to journalists at 5pm local time.
He is also expected to defend his treatment of the coronavirus pandemic amid an apparent second wave of new infections in Tokyo and other urban centers.
Abe, who has not informed the media since mid-June about Covid-19, will likely outline new measures to combat the pandemic, including a promise to secure enough vaccines – if one is available – for the entire population of the land until early next year.
The availability of a vaccine is an important factor that could decide the fate of the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed until summer 2021 due to the pandemic.
Abe, who turns 66 next month, has so far said little publicly about his visits to Keio University Hospital, telling these journalists only that he wanted to get on with his health and continue with his job.
He has not indicated if his recent health problems were linked to his intestinal condition, which has affected him since his youth.
When he became prime minister for the second time in late 2012, Abe said he was able to control symptoms with medications that were not available during his first term in office.
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