Japan PM Abe to resign

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday announced his resignation, ending a year-old government plagued with scams and an electoral defeat.

"I am determined today to step down," a visibly emotional Abe said at a hurriedly-arranged press meet in Tokyo on Wednesday. Fifty-two-year-old Abe said that he had decided to resign as it would be difficult for him to regain public trust to implement key policies.

Abe said he even reshuffled the cabinet in order to push forward certain reforms but under the current situation it has become difficult for him to secure people's support and trust to implement policies. His controversial policies include providing refueling support to the US-led operations in Afghanistan.

However, analysts were surprised by Abe's decision as he had refused to quit earlier in spite of strong pressure over the ruling coalition's heavy defeat in the upper house elections held in July, a spate of resignations by ministers and scandals involving key members of his administration.

Abe, who took office on September 26 last year, said it will be better if he steps down and a new prime minister pursues a fresh law for the extension of the refueling mission as well as other key policy matters.      

He expressed hoped that with his resignation, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party can generate new energy to deal with the political gridlock with the opposition.

Abe also cited a rejection, by opposition Democratic Party of Japan president Ichiro Ozawa to hold a meeting on the extension issue, as one of the reasons behind his resignation.

Ozawa has repeatedly said that 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 a change to the current situation by stepping down, because unfortunately today a meeting with the opposition leader could not be realised," said Abe.

"With this, I decided that I can't fulfill my promises and that perhaps my being prime minister has become an obstacle to winning an extension in Parliament," said Abe, the youngest post-war premier of Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano said Abe's health was also a reason behind the move, saying the premier has been distressed trying to balance his duties and physical state.

Yosano declined to discuss the specifics of Abe's health problem but said that the premier's condition had deteriorated, especially after his three-nation Asia visit in late August. The LDP is arranging for a party presidential election to replace Abe on September 19, Kyodo said.

Abe had indicated over the weekend that he was ready to step down if he failed to get the Diet, the Japanese Parliament, to extend the Maritime Self-Defence Force's refuelling mission to support US-led anti-terrorism operation.

After the election defeat, when the ruling coalition lost its majority in the upper house, Abe reshuffled his scandal-tainted Cabinet and LDP leadership on August 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.

Soon after Abe took over as the prime minister, scandals plagued his rule, with the first minister resigning in December, another committing suicide in May and three others stepping down since then.