Japan’s PM Abe to step down due to health concerns

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday announced his intention to resign at a meeting of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, saying he made the decision to minimize the impact of his deteriorating health on the party.

“I will not be able to make proper judgements due to illness,” Abe was quoted by an LDP executive as telling party members on his reason for the decision.

Abe will not name an acting prime minister but serve until the next leader is chosen, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Abe, who has been premier since December 2012 following his first one-year stint in the post between 2006 and 2007, just recently achieved the feat of staying in the top government post for the longest uninterrupted term in the country’s history.

He was scheduled to meet the press from 5 p.m. in what would be his first press conference at his office since June 18 to address the speculations about his health condition, and also the government’s coronavirus response.

The 65-year-old president of the LDP made a series of hospital visits in August for what his aides called a “regular health checkup” and follow-ups after he was reported as having vomited blood at the prime minister’s office in early July.

Questions about Abe’s health have been raised from time to time after he abruptly resigned due to worsening of his chronic illness — ulcerative colitis — in 2007, only a year after becoming the country’s youngest premier in the postwar era at age 52.

After returning to power in 2012, Abe said he had overcome the intestinal disease with the help of a new drug. On Aug. 24, he became Japan’s longest-serving prime minister by number of consecutive days in office, eclipsing the previous record of 2,798 days held by his great uncle Eisaku Sato (1901-1975).

But Abe’s health came under fresh scrutiny with his repeated hospital visits after he kept a low profile without holding any press conferences for nearly 50 days between mid-June and early August, despite calls for him to explain the government’s handling of the coronavirus to the public.

His government’s measures to deal with the pandemic have been plagued by missteps, including the distribution of washable cloth face masks, which proved highly unpopular as they were seen as being too small and arriving too late.

The masks became known as “Abenomask,” which means “Abe’s mask” in Japanese and is a pun on his touted “Abenomics” economic policy package that calls for bold monetary easing by the Bank of Japan, generous fiscal spending and deregulations to spur economic growth.

The “Go To Travel” campaign to subsidize domestic trips to help the tourism industry battered by the coronavirus similarly came under fire for being launched despite a resurgence in virus cases across the country and for causing confusion through its last-minute change to exclude trips to and from Tokyo.

A Kyodo News opinion poll in July found 59.1 percent had been discontent with the government’s handling of the pandemic. The approval rate for Abe’s Cabinet, which stood at 62 percent at the start of his second stint, came to 36.0 percent in August.

Abe had initially appeared to be on course to shore up the country’s economy with Abenomics by setting the inflation target at 2 percent and introducing massive monetary easing, which has given a boost to Japanese stock indexes.

But more than seven years after the launch of his government, Japan has yet to meet the inflation target and the prolonged low interest rate has hurt the health of financial institutions.

He raised the consumption tax twice, to 8 percent in April 2014 and to 10 percent in October 2019, but has put off achieving the goal of making the state and municipal governments move into the black to fiscal 2025 from the original target of fiscal 2020.

Abe was often regarded as a hawkish conservative seeking to raise Japan’s profile overseas.

In 2014, he went ahead with a reinterpretation of the pacifist Constitution to enable the use of collective self-defense — defending allies even without an attack on Japan itself — and expanded the role of its defense forces under new security legislation in 2016.

Chronology of major events of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government

Sept. 20, 2006 — Abe becomes president of the Liberal Democratic Party after its leadership election.

Sept. 26 — Abe appointed Japan’s 90th prime minister.

July 29, 2007 — Abe presides over the LDP’s crushing defeat in the House of Councillors election.

Sept. 12 — Abe announces his intention to resign as prime minister.

Sept. 26, 2012 — Abe returns to the LDP presidency after its leadership election.

Dec. 16 — LDP regains majority in the House of Representatives election.

Dec. 26 — Abe becomes prime minister for the second time after the LDP and its coalition partner New Komeito win back the lower house.

July 21, 2013 — The ruling coalition secures a majority in the upper house, ending the divided Diet.

Dec. 26 — Abe visits the war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, becoming the first prime minister to do so in seven years and drawing a backlash from China and South Korea.

April 1, 2014 — Japan’s consumption tax is raised from 5 percent to 8 percent.

July 1 — The Cabinet approves a controversial reinterpretation of the Constitution allowing Japan to come to the aid of allies under armed attack in collective self-defense.

Dec. 14 — The ruling coalition retains a two-thirds majority in the lower house election.

Sept. 8, 2015 — Abe re-elected unopposed as LDP president.

Sept. 19 — Japan enacts security legislation aimed at expanding the scope of the Self-Defense Forces’ operations overseas.

July 10, 2016 — The ruling coalition gains a two-thirds majority in the upper house election.

Oct. 22, 2017 — The ruling coalition retains its two-thirds majority in the lower house election.

Sept. 20, 2018 — Abe secures a third consecutive term as LDP leader.

July 21, 2019 — The ruling coalition wins a majority of contested seats in the upper house election but falls short of the two-thirds of seats needed to propose amending the pacifist Constitution.

Oct. 1 — Japan’s consumption tax rate is raised to 10 percent from 8 percent, after twice being delayed.

March 24, 2020 — Abe and the International Olympic Committee agree to postpone the Tokyo Olympics for one year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

April 7 — Abe declares a state of emergency for seven prefectures over the pandemic.

Aug. 17 — Abe checks in at a Tokyo hospital for what an aide calls a “regular health checkup.”

Aug. 24 — Abe revisits Tokyo hospital for additional checkups and marks record as Japan’s longest-serving prime minister in terms of consecutive days in office.

Aug. 28 — Source says Abe to announce his intention to resign as prime minister.