JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigns after year of scandal and crisis

Record ID: 463772

  • Title: JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigns after year of scandal and crisis
  • Date: 13th September 2007
  • Summary: (BN06) TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 12, 2007) (REUTERS) TOKYO STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) KUMIKO ENO, 60-YEAR-OLD HOUSEWIFE, SAYING: "At first I had high hopes for him but I was disappointed because ultimately he had no leadership." (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) KOHEI YOKOTA, 22 YEAR OLD, UNIVERSITY STUDENT, SAYING: "Personally I wished he could have acted in the long term interest, but I suppose in the public opinion he did the correct thing." TOKYO STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOSHIHIRO MIYAMOTO, 48-YEAR-OLD COMPANY EMPLOYEE, SAYING: "I think now the issue is who is going to replace Abe, and if that helps the Liberal Democratic party I suppose it was the right thing to do."
  • Embargoed: 28th September 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA14CONAKDDEIVQR7WAIRL6U2AO
  • Story Text: Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday (September 12) he would resign in hope of making it easier to extend a naval mission in support of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan, sending shockwaves through Japan.
    The hawkish Abe, who took office a year ago promising to boost Japan's global security profile, has suffered low support rates and dwindling clout after his ruling camp suffered an election drubbing in July, but the announcement came as a bolt out of the blue.
    "I determined today that I should resign," said Abe at a press conference.
    "We should seek a continued mission to fight terrorism under a new prime minister. And it will be better that a new prime minister attend the next United Nations General Assembly in order to turn things around,"
    added Abe.
    Abe had previously indicated that he would step down if he failed to extend a Japanese naval mission supporting U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan, but that had not expected to come to a head so soon.
    Opposition parties, which won control of parliament's upper house in the July poll and can delay the enabling legislation for the mission, had been preparing to grill him on the topic in parliament on Wednesday afternoon.
    Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Opposition Social Democratic Party, called the resignation "irresponsible."
    "From the beginning to the end, Mr. Abe has been indifferent to the general public's lives. And the way he announced his resignation showed just that. He didn't fully explain why he is resigning. I have to say it's very irresponsible of him to leave his job half way through like this,"
    said Fukushima.
    On the streets of Tokyo, the public were surprised but not shocked at Abe's sudden resignation.
    "At first I had high hopes for him but I was disappointed because ultimately he had no leadership," said 60-year-old Kumiko Endo, a Tokyo resident.
    "Personally I wished he could have acted in the long term interest, but I suppose in the public opinion he did the correct thing,"
    added university student Kohei Yokota, 22.
    Japanese stocks closed lower on Wednesday following the announcement, with the Nikkei down by 0.5 percent as political uncertainty weighed on the market amid thin trade.
    Sales of futures contributed to the decline, which saw shares of banks such as Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T> slide.
    The Nikkei average <.N225> ended down by 80.07 points at 15,797.60, while the broader TOPIX index <.TOPX> was down 0.3 percent to 1,528.27.
    LDP Secretary-General Taro Aso, a close Abe ally who shares most of his hawkish views on security policy, is generally seen as frontrunner to succeed as LDP president and hence, prime minister.
    Abe is expected to stay on in a caretaker role until a successor is chosen.
    The LDP and its junior partner suffered a drubbing in the July election, and his support ratings have floundered amid a row over pensions and a series of financial scandals involving cabinet ministers.
    Financial market players have been worried about the possibility that the stalemate over the naval mission and Abe's other woes would either prompt him to resign or spark a snap election for the powerful lower house, threatening political instability and a policy vacuum.
    The number two leader of the Japanese opposition Democratic party, Yukio Hatoyama, mocked Abe's resignation using a reference to baseball, a game which is very popular in Japan.
    "I feel like the first batter in a game and having stepped up to the batter's box I find the pitcher missing. The prime minister is like that missing pitcher," said Hatoyama.
    Abe had already been weakened by scandals and gaffes by ministers that contributed to the election disaster and had been expected to provide fodder for opposition grilling in parliament in the coming weeks.
    Abe has put most of his energy into diplomacy -- improving ties with China and South Korea -- and pushing a conservative agenda that includes rewriting the pacifist constitution, so some analysts said his resignation might not affect economic policies all that much.
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