Worsening health has forced Japanese Prime Minster to resign

Due to poor health, the Prime Minster of Japan, Shinzo Abe has resigned from his position. He is the longest-serving premier, which is a major achievement in itself. He said: “I cannot be prime minister if I cannot make the best decisions for the people. I have decided to step down from my post.” It is a well-known fact, that Shinzo has battled the disease ulcerative colitis for years. Also, two recent hospital visits within a week had fanned several questions. Whether he could stay in the job until the end of his term as ruling party leader, and hence, premier, in September 2021 or not.

As a result…

The news of his resignation was not enough. As the news of his resignation spread, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average fell 2.12% to 22,717.02. On the other hand, the broader Topix shed 1.00% to 1,599.70. The selling wiped $4.7 billion off Tokyo’s $5.7 trillion stock market value, which had more than doubled during Abe’s tenure.

This resignation will trigger a leadership race in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) – most likely in two or three weeks. The winner must be formally elected in parliament. The new party leader will hold the post for the rest of Abe’s term. Whoever wins the party poll is likely to keep Abe’s reflationary “Abenomics” policies. This is because Japan struggles with the impact of the novel coronavirus, but may have trouble emulating the political longevity that may be Abe’s biggest legacy.

“The broad picture remains in tact. In terms of economic and fiscal policy, the focus remains very much on reflation,” said Jesper Koll, senior adviser to asset manager WisdomTree Investments. “Longevity will be a struggle.” On Monday, Abe surpassed a record for longest consecutive tenure as premier set by his great-uncle Eisaku Sato half a century ago.

Natural questions concerning health

As far as Shinzo’s health is concerned, it is not yet clear, whether he has fell victim of the coronavirus. But one thing is clear, that the nation has lost a very important minister, even though he isn’t dead. The economy is already struggling. The situations can even worsen if appropriate measures don’t come into action. This will affect the entire nation and its economy. It is now up to the newly elected Prime Minister and the political parties on how they handle this tight situations. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the nation is already struggling from several perspectives.

What his Twitter account has to say?

His Twitter account is full of several tweets and retweets related to his resignation. Some of them said:

“To all the people, thank you for almost 8 years.”

“Of course, until the next prime minister is appointed, we will firmly fulfill that responsibility until the end. I hope to manage my physical condition by treatment and support the new system as a member of the Diet.”

“However, we are confident that all of these policies are promised to the people as the LDP, and that we will gain further policy driving force under the new powerful system and proceed toward realization.”

There are several more tweets, which are all full of positivity. That’s the spirit, as expected from the longest-serving minister of Japan.