Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned Friday because a chronic illness resurfaced and he said he didn't want it to affect his decision-making.
Abe, 65, has for years suffered from 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 fortnight during a
row for unspecified health checkups.
He has had the condition since he was an adolescent.
"It is gut-wrenching to possess to go
away my job before accomplishing my goals," he said.
Abe's term ends in September 2021. He’s
expected’ to remain on until a replacement party leader is elected and formally
approved’ by the parliament.
Abe was elected’ in 2012 and it's the
second time he has resigned as prime minister as a results of his battles with colitis.
He last stepped down in 2007.
He will quit at a time when his approval
ratings hit their lowest levels thanks 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, may be a favorite next leader in
media surveys, though he's less popular within the ruling party.
A low-key former secretary of state Fumio
Kishida, Defense Minister Taro Kono, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga,
and economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is responsible of
coronavirus measures, also are widely speculated in Japanese media as his
potential successors.
When he returned to office in 2012, Abe
vowed to revitalize the state and obtain its economy out of its deflationary
doldrums together with his "Abenomics" formula, which mixes fiscal
stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.
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