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MNI: Japan PM Abe Intends to Step Down: Press

(MNI) Tokyo
TOKYO (MNI)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday has decided he intends to resign, the Kyodo News Agency reports, citing the Liberal Democratic Party officials.

Prime Minister Abe will hold news conference at 1700 JST (0800 GMT) on Friday, with speculation mounting for days that Abe will resign for health reasons.

Prime Minister Abe, Japan's longest-serving civilian leader, had overseen a period of steady economic growth, which has been undermined by the severe economic downturn triggered by the global pandemic.

His current term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to run through September 2021.

Abe is the longest-serving prime minister in modern Japanese history, both in terms of consecutive and cumulative days in office. But he ended his first stint in 2007 after just one year, citing an intestinal disease knnown as ulcerative colitis.

MNI Tokyo Bureau | +81 90-2175-0040 | hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com
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MNI Tokyo Bureau | +81 90-2175-0040 | hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com
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