Japan’s Shinzo Abe to serve out term as ruling party leader, aide says amid questions over PM’s health
- Prime minister expected to give first full news conference since June to discuss coronavirus policy as well as his condition
- Abe, 65, has visited Keio University Hospital twice in two weeks, reportedly to undergo treatment for chronic illness
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, 71, said in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday that he expects Abe to explain his health condition in a proper way. Abe is expected on Friday at 5pm to give his first full news conference since June, at which time he is expected to discuss virus policy as well as his own health.
“Of course,” Suga said, when asked whether Abe could withstand another year in a physically demanding job that sometimes requires weeks in a row in parliamentary committees. “He’ll be all right,” he said, adding that he saw no change in Abe’s condition.
At the news conference on Friday, Abe is expected to unveil a government plan to secure a coronavirus vaccine for the entire population by the first half of next year, national public broadcaster NHK reported, without saying who provided the information.
Although the government has provided few details, domestic media have said he was actually undergoing treatment for ulcerative colitis, a chronic digestive condition that forced him to step down as premier in 2007.
