Reports: Abe expresses intent to step down due to health

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed intention to step down, citing his declining health, according to Japan’s NHK television and other media.

Breaking News: Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, will resign because of ill health, the country’s national broadcaster reported https://t.co/9YV22XIIqF

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 28, 2020

Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office said the report could not be immediately confirmed, but that Abe was believed to be meeting top ruling officials at the party headquarters.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to address his personal medical issues and the government’s coronavirus policies on Friday at his first full news conference since June https://t.co/J2rSDpTWQs

— Bloomberg (@business) August 28, 2020

Concerns about Abe’s chronic health issue, simmering since earlier this summer, intensified this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified health checkups.

Abe in 2007 abruptly resigned from his first stint office due to his health.