Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo AbeFlash 90

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will resign, Abe announced Friday, citing ongoing health problems.

Addressing journalists at a press conference Friday, the 65-year-old Japanese leader said that he will step down as premier “to address health concerns”.

According to Kyodo News, Abe had told senior members of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that he that his ulcerative colitis has made it difficult for him to function as prime minister.

"I will not be able to make proper judgments due to illness," Abe is quoted as saying.

Abe will not select an acting premier to replace him, but will serve on until a new party leader for the LDP is selected.

The LDP is expected to decide on a leadership election next Tuesday.

Abe, Japan’s longest serving premier, governed for a year from 2006 to 2007, before returning to the premiership in December 2012.

Once a popular leader whose government earlier reached an approval rating of 62%, Abe’s government has been hit hard by a series of scandals and the coronavirus pandemic. A Kyodo News poll in July found 59% of respondents disapproved of the government’s handling of the crisis. In August, just 36% of Japanese adults approved of the job performance of the Abe government.