Japanese Prime Minister Announces Plans to Resign

Japanese Prime Minister Announces Plans to Resign

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TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose year-old government has suffered a string of damaging scandals and a humiliating electoral defeat, has told ruling party leaders he intends to resign, news reports said Wednesday.

National broadcaster NHK said Abe made the announcement in a morning meeting with ruling party leaders, citing unidentified top officials of the Liberal Democratic Party. Other TV networks carried similar reports.

Abe, whose support rating has fallen...

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I'm not too familiar with Japanese politics, but he's only been in office for a year, not a long time. I guess the scandals have made it impossible for him to continue ruling.

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I don't know much about Japanese politics either but know that a scalp has been taken I hope that Japan maintains its military presence in Afghanistan. Japan maintaining its military presence in Afghanistan serves two purposes . The first is that other issues aside it is important to maintain the broad international nature of the coalition that is taking part in Afghan operations. The other thing to consider is that Japan is just starting to play a greater role in the global security stakes and it would be counter productive if a step was taken backwards in this regard.