Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talks to media in front of the prime minister's residence in Tokyo, Japan, March 24, 2020. (Kyodo News/Handout via Xinhua)
A source said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest ever serving leader, plans to step down after recent rumors about his deteriorating health.
TOKYO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to step down from his post owing to concerns over his health, a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) source said Friday.
Rumors about the Japanese premier's deteriorating health have been swirling of late and amplified by two trips to a Tokyo hospital within a week.
Abe's first admission to hospital on Aug. 17 for what was described at the time by as a "health check up" that lasted more than seven hours stoked concerns about his health.
On Aug. 24, Abe revisited the Keio University Hospital in Tokyo again to receive the results of the checkup and to receive more tests, with the second visit lasting four hours.
An electronic screen shows that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, May 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
The same day he visited the hospital for the second time, he became Japan's longest-serving leader with the most consecutive days in office at 2,799.
If confirmed, this would be the second time Abe has left the top post due to health issues.
Abe, 65, during his first tenure as prime minister, which started in late September 2006, abruptly stepped down from his post in 2007 due to chronic ulcerative colitis, an intestinal disease.
After a landslide victory in the lower house in 2012 he returned to serve as the nation's prime minister and his seven year-tenure has made him Japan's longest ever serving leader.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declares a month-long state of emergency in Tokyo, Japan, April 7, 2020. (Kyodo News/Handout via Xinhua)
Abe, prior to his health condition, was set to spend one more year at the helm.
Sparking concerns about the premier's ill health, prior to the rumors mounting, a weekly magazine reported that Abe vomited blood at his office on July 6.
Abe is scheduled to give a press conference later in the day.■
