Excerpt: "Will he ever face the Japanese people's calls for accountability?"
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan announced his resignation at a news conference on Friday. (photo: Franck Robichon)
31 August 20
Will he ever face the Japanese people’s calls for accountability?
rime Minister Shinzo Abe’s announcement on Friday that he would resign because of poor health was a rather abrupt end for a supposedly strong leader. Mr. Abe has ruled Japan, most recently, for a record seven years and eight months: He is the country’s longest-serving prime minister.
The decision was a surprise — and yet it wasn’t.
A chronic illness was also the reason Mr. Abe cited when he suddenly resigned from his first stint as prime minister in 2007.
The matter of his health had surfaced again a couple of weeks ago when, after he underwent a medical checkup, a former minister and close associate of Mr. Abe’s publicly expressed concern that the prime minister was overworked and might have to be “forced” to get a few days’ rest.
