Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to resign due to his health condition

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to resign, says local media, adding that he wanted to avoid causing problems to the government due to a worsening of his chronic health condition.

According to a report in NHK, Abe is scheduled to hold a news conference later in the day to provide further details of his decision.

The development comes after Abe’s visit to a Tokyo hospital twice over the past two weeks, fuelling speculation that his health has deteriorated.

Shinzo Abe checked into a hospital in Tokyo

Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe checked into a hospital in Tokyo after one of his aides described as a “health checkup”, although rumours have been swirling about the leader’s ill health.

Kyodo News reported that Abe’s visit to Keio University Hospital in the capital came a day after former economy minister Akira Amari told a TV programme that the Prime Minister needs to rest, intimating he may be suffering from exhaustion. Abe, 65, during his first tenure as Prime Minister, which started in late September 2006, had abruptly stepped down from his post in 2007 due to chronic ulcerative colitis, an intestinal disease.

Earlier the month, however, Japan’s top government spokesperson Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, downplayed any potential health issues Abe may be going through.

This is a developing story.