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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday expressed his intention to step down for health reasons, according to Japanese television NHK and other Japanese media.
Japan’s prime minister’s office said the information could not be confirmed immediately, but indicated that Abe was meeting with senior officials at party headquarters.
Concerns about Abe’s chronic health problem have returned to public discussion since the beginning of the summer and intensified this month, when he was twice admitted to a Tokyo hospital, to perform unspecified tests.
Abe, in 2007, resigned abruptly, the first time he held the position, also due to health problems, and has led the Government since late 2012, a longevity record for a Japanese Prime Minister.
