Japan PM likely to resign

News Desk

The Japanese PM Shinzō Abe, the longest serving PM of the country, is likely to resign, according to the sources. A formal and confirmed announcement is yet to come up on this.

‘Abe intends to resign as his illness has worsened and he worries it will cause trouble, in leading the country,’ national broadcaster NHK said, without citing a source.

Abe is to announce his resignation over health issues, local media reported on Friday, hours before he was due to address a press conference. Abe is scheduled to hold a press conference at 5 pm (0800 GMT) Friday, where he is expected to throw light on the issue.

Abe is a Japanese politician who has served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party since 2012. He previously served as Chief Cabinet Secretary from 2005 to 2006, and as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japan.

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Speculation about the prime minister’s health has been swirling for weeks but reached fever pitch in recent days after he made two separate trips to hospital for unspecified medical checks. Abe took three days of holidays this month and on August 17 made an unannounced hospital visit, staying there for more than seven hours for medical checks.

He made a second visit to the same hospital a week later for additional tests and said at the time that he intended to continue in the job.