Ill Health Forces Japan’s Prime Minister to Resign

An apologetic Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that he will step down due to ill health after a record seven years and eight months as leader, after a recurrence of ulcerative colitis.

Abe announced his resignation in a news conference yesterday, in which he addressed his health after two recent hospital visits. The 65-year-old said he wanted to avoid causing problems to the government because of his worsening condition.

He said he did not want his illness to get in the way of decision making and apologised to the Japanese people for failing to complete his term in office.

In 2007 he resigned abruptly from an earlier term as prime minister because of his struggles with ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that he has lived with since he was a teenager.

As the longest serving Japanese Prime Minister, he leaves behind a legacy of stability and a strong centralised power base that allowed forceful stimulus policies to revive the economy. He also improved relations with the US by courting President Donald Trump, often on the golf course.

Yet his government was also mired in scandal, including talk of favouritism and wilful destruction of public records. When the pandemic struck, his responses were often criticised as being slow, ineffective, and out of touch.

On Monday, Abe marked his 2,799th consecutive day in office since bouncing back to leadership in late 2012 for a second term in office and became Japan’s longest serving leader, beating a record set by his great-uncle Eisaku Sato half a century ago.

But his popularity has dwindled to about 30 percent in recent opinion polls over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and scandals among governing party members.

Friday’s bombshell development kicked off a leadership contest in the world’s third largest economy. Abe said he would not comment on his potential successors, but advised the next leader to continue to work on fighting the coronavirus.

Abe built his administration around his plan to revive the economy with his ‘Abenomics’ policy of spending and monetary easing. He has also beefed up Japan’s military spending and expanded the role of its armed forces even as his dream of revising the country’s pacifist constitution failed to make headway.