Japanese PM Abe announced resignation over health concerns

TIL Desk/World/Tokyo/ Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday announced that he was resigning from the post due to health concerns. The 65-year-old made the announcement at a press conference in Tokyo. Abe said that he needed to be treated for a flare-up of his intestinal disease that led his first one-year stint to end abruptly in 2007.

He said he will receive new treatment but required prolonged care. The Prime Minister 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. Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister and officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held a meeting to discuss his decision to step down following his ill-health.

Abe had been busy in recent months — working 147 days straight — dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters that hit parts of the country earlier this year. But rumours about the premier’s deteriorating health were amplified by his two trips to the Keio University Hospital in Tokyo within a week.