Osaka – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to step down as prime minister amid speculation over his health, NHK reported Friday, throwing the political center of Nagatacho in turmoil over the question of who will take over.
Abe is expected to speak to reporters at 5 p.m.
Having witnessed his 2,799th day in office Monday, Abe had just become the nation’s longest-serving prime minister in terms of consecutive tenure.
Abe’s health has been the subject of intense speculation since he underwent an examination at Tokyo’s Keio University Hospital on Aug. 14, and then returned for a followup exam on Monday.
The recent developments followed reports that his condition had declined since July and then worsened in early August. That fueled fears within Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party that he may not be able to carry on, instigating speculation as to who could succeed him.
Abe’s first stint as prime minister ended in 2007 after only one year due to chronic ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease.
With Abe set to resign, the race to find his replacement is intensifying.
On Friday, before news of Abe's resignation broke, LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai told a TBS TV program that Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is a strong candidate to succeed Abe.
“He has great capabilities,” said Nikai. “He has the ability to endure in the post.”
But Nikai also added that LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida and former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba are also possible contenders.
In a Kyodo survey conducted over the weekend, 23.3 percent said Ishiba should become the next prime minister, while 11 percent said Abe should stay on. Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi followed with 8.4 percent, Defense Minister Taro Kono was at 7.9 percent and Kishida was at 2.8 percent.
A champion of decentralization and regional revitalization, Ishiba enjoys a good measure of support in many regional party chapters. However, he is struggling to generate enough support within the LDP’s parliamentary ranks.
Suga, the top government spokesman whose relationship with Abe reportedly has cooled over the past year, is also a potential successor, despite his denials of interest in the post. Suga is close to Nikai, whose support may be key in determining Abe’s successor.
Kishida has long been considered a potential prime minister and enjoys a good deal of party support. But he lacks popularity among the public or many regional chapters and could face a tough time gaining any votes to claim the party presidency, and thus the premiership.
Koizumi, the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is believed to lack the necessary party support. In recent weeks, Defense Minister Taro Kono’s name has also been floated as a possible successor.
Finally, there is Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso. He is also a former prime minister, having served in the top post for one year, until September 2009, when the LDP lost its majority and spent three years in opposition until it returned in late 2012 with Abe at the helm.
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives at his official residence on Friday. | REUTERS
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