TOKYO — The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is arranging for a presidential election on Sept 19 to choose the successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced his resignation Wednesday, a senior LDP member said.
Abe said he was resigning to take responsibility for causing political uncertainty, saying it would be difficult for him to regain public trust and secure an extension of Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean.
"I determined today to step down," a visibly weary Abe said at a hastily arranged press conference. "I reshuffled the cabinet in order to push forward with reforms but under the current situation it has become difficult for me to secure the people's support and trust to vigorously implement policies."
Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano said at a news conference later that Abe's health was also a reason behind his resignation, saying the premier has been distressed trying to balance his duties and his physical condition.
LDP Secretary General Taro Aso told party executives that the new leader must be chosen "urgently to avoid creating a political vacuum."
Wednesday's announcement, made after Abe abruptly canceled a question-and-answer session in parliament with opposition lawmakers, came as a surprise as Abe had just reiterated his determination to pursue his duties and political goals in a policy address Monday when the extraordinary Diet session convened.
The timing of his decision also puzzled many in both the ruling and opposition camps, given the fact that Abe had until now refused to resign on various other occasions despite strong pressure, such as the ruling coalition's heavy defeat in the House of Councillors election in July, a spate of resignations of Cabinet ministers, and endless money scandals involving key members of his administration.
Abe, who took office only a year ago, said it is better if he steps down and a new prime minister pursues a new law for the extension as well as other policy matters, adding he hopes that with his resignation the ruling LDP can generate new energy to deal with the political gridlock with the opposition.
"I think that having a new prime minister attend the upcoming U.N. General Assembly will perhaps bring about change," he said, referring to the gathering of world leaders in New York later this month.
Abe also cited a rejection by opposition Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa to hold a meeting on the extension issue. Ozawa has repeatedly said he is against an extension and the opposition plans to block the bill in the upper house where it holds a majority.
"I made up my mind that I must bring change to the current situation by stepping down, because unfortunately today a meeting with the opposition leader could not be realized," the premier said, pausing three times along the way as he spoke.
"With this, I decided that I cannot fulfill my promises and that perhaps my being prime minister has become an obstacle" to winning an extension in parliament, he said.
Meanwhile, Ozawa stressed at a separate news conference that the DPJ's opposition to the extension remains unchanged, saying, "There is no way that our thinking will change because of a change in the Liberal Democratic Party."
Abe's decision to resign comes after he indicated over the weekend that he was ready to step down if he failed to get the Diet to extend the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission to support U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and near Afghanistan beyond the Nov 1 deadline.
Meanwhile, Yosano, the top government spokesman, declined to discuss the specifics of Abe's health problem but said the premier's condition had deteriorated, especially after his three-nation Asia visit in late August. But Yosano noted that it was not a psychological issue.
"I have spoken with the premier many times since Monday and I felt that he wanted to convey something to me. But as we always focused on how to get the antiterrorism special measures law passed, I wasn't able to catch the subtle signals," Yosano said. "I remember all the scenes and now that I think about it, those were indeed the signals."
Asked to elaborate, Yosano cited one episode when he proposed to Abe how to proceed with extending the antiterrorism support mission, and the premier replied, "But even so, the circumstances are extremely difficult."
The LDP's Aso said that Abe told him Monday of his intention to step down but that he encouraged him then to stay on.
Since the July election defeat when the ruling bloc lost its majority in the upper house, Abe had refused to step down and clung to power. He eventually reshuffled his scandal-tainted cabinet and LDP leadership on Aug. 27 and vowed to "start anew."
But he continued to face difficulties with more scandals surfacing immediately after the reshuffle, notably one involving the misuse of farm subsidies that led to the resignation of the newly named agriculture minister.
Other scandals involving ministers' political funds also came to light, providing fuel for the opposition camp to pursue Abe's responsibility and to plan a censure motion against Abe at the just-convened parliament session.
Abe took office on Sept 26 last year with his major political goals being to revise the pacifist Constitution and revamp the education system to instill more patriotism into children under his slogan of freeing Japan from its "postwar regime."
Within weeks of becoming prime minister, Abe succeeded in mending fences with China and South Korea by visiting both countries, warming ties that had chilled for years under his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi.
However, money scandals and various gaffes soon plagued his administration, with the first minister resigning in December. Another committed suicide in May, and three others have resigned since then.
Abe faced strong criticism for his handling of the government's massive record-keeping blunder with public pension accounts and the lack of concrete policies to revitalize local economies and improve social disparities.
His administration's failure to attend to the public's concerns over daily livelihoods instead of political ideals was seen as a major factor in the July election, in which the LDP suffered a historic defeat.
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