Singapore and Japan has had good relations over the years, and our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has worked closely with his counterpart, Shinzo Abe, since 2012.
Today (28 Aug), Mr Abe announced that he will step down as PM due to his worsening health.
During a news conference, he said that his condition started flaring up again in mid Jul, and didn’t feel confident that he could continue to serve as a result.
In tribute to Mr Abe, PM Lee posted a Facebook post wishing him well.
Mr Abe suffers from chronic ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease.
He had to visit the hospital twice recently, and also resigned in 2007 as prime minister due to illness.
Because he’ll have to receive regular treatment, Mr Abe feels that he won’t have enough time to concentrate on his duties.
PM Lee took to Facebook to tribute Mr Abe on Singapore’s strong bileratal ties with Japan.
They’d worked together since the latter became PM for the 2nd time in 2012, making it almost 8 years.
PM Lee had last met Mr Abe virtually in Apr, and in Nov last year in person.
He wishes Mr Abe a good recovery, and can perhaps relate to the situation as PM Lee is a twice-survivor of cancer, having overcome cancer in 1992 and 2015.
Even though there’s a year left on his term, Mr Abe chose to step down.
During this time, Japan is dealing with Covid-19, as is every other government globally.
However, his party, the Liberal Democratic Party, are yet to decide on a successor.
They may hold an election among the party members to decide who’ll become the new PM.
Whoever becomes the new PM will have to tackle the Covid-19 situation locally, as it exceeded 65,000 cases yesterday and 1,241 deaths yesterday (27 Aug).
We hope that Mr Abe’s treatment is successful.
Featured image adapted from Wikimedia Commons and Facebook.
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