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JAPAN: PM Shinzo Abe steps down

1 Aug. 28, 2020, 2:38 p.m.

Longest-serving Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has resigned.

The 65-year-old made public his resignation in a press conference on Friday 28 August 2020 stating that he is resigning because of his ill health condition, and that he does not want to create a political vacuum by being in a situation where he cannot make the best decisions for his people, especially at this critical moment when the country is battling with the novel coronavirus.

"I have decided to step down from the post of the prime minister,... I cannot continue to be prime minister if I am not sure that I can carry out the work entrusted to me by the people," PM Abe stated.

PM Abe has been suffering from ulcerative colitis, a chronic intestinal disease for years now, a condition which he says was controlled by treatment and same condition that led to the abrupt end of his mandate in 2007.

Upon his return from his latest hospital trip in Tokyo, PM Abe said that he had returned to continue working and try to “gambaru” which means doing one's best even in the most difficult moments.

“I will return to work and try to gambaru” Abe said.

PM Abe's term of office was due for September 2021, unfortunately he had to resign before the term could expire.

"I would like to sincerely apologise to the people of Japan for leaving my post with one year left in my term of office, and amid the coronavirus woes, while various policies are still in the process of being implemented," Abe said.