By Sachiko Sakamaki and Anthony SpaethSept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized for what he called the "worst timing of his resignation, and for concealing his ill health in the weeks before he abruptly announced he would step down.
Photo: Shinzo Abe, prime minister of Japan, leaves a news conference at his official residence in Tokyo, Sept. 12, 2007.Speaking to reporters from the hospital in which he has stayed since Sept. 13, Abe, 53, addressed reporters while sitting before microphones wearing a blue business suit. Two white-coated doctors sat at an adjacent table.
I created a great deal of inconvenience to the cabinet, people in the government and ruling party, and the people," said Abe, who is set to resign tomorrow morning to give way to Yasuo Fukuda, 71, the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
"In the past month my physical condition kept deteriorating and I came to feel the limitation of my physical strength," he said. "I felt I should not talk about my condition while I was prime minister. I'm very sorry."
On Sept. 12, Abe said he would resign, two days after a session of parliament began and six weeks after the LDP lost control of the upper house to opposition parties in an election.
After becoming Japan's youngest prime minister in 65 years on Sept. 26, 2006, Abe tried boost his nation's standing on the world stage and to create a "Beautiful Japan."
'Totally Exhausted'
"Abe's resignation was so irresponsible," said Hirotada Asakawa, political analyst and visiting professor at Japan's Hohoku Fukushi University. "He was totally exhausted after realizing he couldn't pursue his dream following the election defeat."
He was hospitalized for exhaustion and stress-related abdominal problems.
His successor is Fukuda, son of a former prime minister. Fukuda was chief cabinet secretary for former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his predecessor, Yoshiro Mori.
"He has a long career as the chief cabinet secretary, a sense of stability and is well versed in policies," Abe said today of his successor.
Abe's approval rating, in a Yomiuri newspaper survey dropped from 70 percent in October last year to 29 percent in a poll conducted Sept. 8-9. In the same poll, 70.3 percent of respondents said they didn't approve of his administration's performance while 27 percent said they did.
Abe said today his condition is improving. "I have gradually become able to eat," he told reporters. "I would like to be able to leave the hospital as soon as possible."
Abe is the grandson of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and son of former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe. He was first elected to the lower house of parliament in 1993.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at ssakamaki@bloomberg.net ;
Last Updated: September 24, 2007 05:17 EDT
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