New Delhi: Shinzo Abe has resigned as the Prime Minister of Japan due to his worsening health condition. Shinzo Abe resigned as Japan’s prime minister as, he said, his chronic illness has resurfaced. Shinzo Abe has acknowledged having ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and has said the condition was controlled with treatment.
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1299259105803149313?s=19
However, earlier in the day, Shinzo Abe said the illness has resurfaced. “I cannot be prime minister if I cannot make the best decisions for the people. I have decided to step down from my post,” Shinzo Abe, 65, told a news conference.
Shinzo Abe has battled the disease ulcerative colitis for years and two recent hospital visits within a week had fanned questions on whether he could stay in the job until the end of his term as a ruling party leader, and hence, premier, in September 2021. In a country once known for its short-tenured prime ministers, the departure marks the end of an unusual era of stability that saw the Japanese leader strike up strong ties with President Donald Trump even as Abe’s ultra-nationalism riled the Koreas and China.
While Shinzo Abe pulled Japan out of recession, the economy has been battered anew by the coronavirus pandemic, and Abe has failed to achieve his cherished goal to formally rewrite the U.S.-drafted pacifist constitution because of poor public support. Earlier in the day, Hiroshige Seko, a party secretary general for the Upper House of Parliament, confirmed that Abe told party executives he is resigning as prime minister.