Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigns, cites reasons

Japan Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe has revealed why he resigned.

OnyxNews Nigeria reports that Abe revealed that the reason for his resignation is due to his ill health condition.

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

He has suffered for many years from ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease, but his condition has worsened recently, he said.

In 2019, Abe became Japan’s longest serving prime minister. His current period in office began in 2012.

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.

Abe has a reputation as a staunch conservative and nationalist, and for stimulating growth with his aggressive economic policy known as “Abenomics”.

He has strengthened Japan’s defences and boosted military spending, but has been unable to revise the constitution’s pacifist Article 9, which bans a standing army for anything other than self-defence.

Prime Minister Abe has long suffered from chronic ulcerative colitis. The disease forced him to resign in 2007 – the first time he headed the government.

Now, after weeks of speculation about him being absent from the public eye despite a worrying uptick in Japan’s coronavirus cases, it seems he is resigning yet again due to the same illness.

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.

Source: Business Insider