Advertisement

Abe resignation: Japan PM race starts, with ally Fumio Kishida and critic Shigeru Ishiba making bids

  • Abe’s close aide Fumio Kishida, and the leader’s top critic, Shigeru Ishiba have indicated their interest in the top job
  • Meanwhile, Japanese and US government sources say that Abe will contact Trump on Monday and call for bilateral cooperation to continue under his successor

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) policy chief Fumio Kishida and former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba. Photo: Kyodo
Japanese and US government sources said on Saturday that outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe planned to hold phone talks with US President Donald Trump on Monday, hours after the American leader gave his Japanese counterpart his “highest respect”.
Advertisement
Abe resigned on Friday over health reasons, apologising for leaving in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and regretting he would be unable to complete his duties.

“It is gut wrenching to have to leave my job before accomplishing my goals,” Abe said, mentioning his failure to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted years ago by North Korea, a territorial dispute with Russia and a revision of Japan’s war-renouncing constitution.

Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Trump called Abe a “great friend”.

Advertisement
“I want to pay my highest respect to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a very great friend of mine,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from a campaign rally in New Hampshire.

“We’ve had a great relationship and I just feel very badly about it,” he said. “He loves his country so much, and for him to leave, I just can’t imagine what it is. He’s a great gentleman and so I’m just paying my highest respect.”

Advertisement