Japanese prime minister goes to hospital following resignation

9/13/2007

TOKYO : Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was treated at a hospital Thursday for exhaustion a day after announcing his resignation, a government spokesman said, amid speculation health troubles prompted him to step down.

National broadcaster NHK reported that Abe had been hospitalized following the examination, but officials at the Prime Minister's Office said they could not immediately confirm the report.

Abe, 52, announced Wednesday he would quit, citing political reasons. Other government officials, however, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano, said Abe suffered from unspecified health issues that contributed to his departure.

Yosano said Thursday Abe went to a hospital and results of the examination were not yet available. He said the decision about whether to hospitalize him would depend on the outcome of the checkup.

"Mr. Abe has an illness that could cause him to feel unwell," Yosano said. "His doctor determined that his fatigue level has reached its peak, so I think that the doctor concluded that he needed to be examined at a well-equipped hospital."

Yosano said Abe had been receiving regular checks from his personal doctor since returning from a regional summit in Australia earlier this week, but Yosano refused to reveal further details of his treatment or condition, citing personal privacy.

Abe's resignation, meanwhile, left the troubled ruling Liberal Democratic Party to scramble for a replacement amid growing calls for a general election to give voters a role in choosing the new government.

The front-runner to replace Abe, former foreign minister and fellow conservative Taro Aso, was expected to announce his candidacy later Thursday. Kyodo News reported the Liberal Democratic Party would decide the election schedule on Thursday and campaigning could start as soon as Friday.

Calls for a snap election for the powerful lower house of parliament, which chooses the prime minister, gathered steam Thursday amid the confusion. The opposition took control of the upper house of parliament in elections on July 29, capitalizing on the unpopularity of Abe's scandal-scarred government.

"With the LDP government thrown into this much confusion, the voters should be asked in the proper fashion who their choice for leader is in a general election," said the national Asahi newspaper in an editorial. "That is the only way to bring back politics based on the people's trust."

Abe announced on Wednesday he would resign, but his vague reasons for leaving - that he felt a new leader was needed to unite the ruling and opposition parties - and the awkward timing fueled speculation he was forced out by the LDP leadership and suffered from unspecified health troubles.

NHK also reported Abe has suffered from loss of appetite, and had to go on intravenous drip in the past. The report, which cited unidentified sources, said Abe had been unable to eat anything but rice gruel.

Abe, whose support ratings in opinion polls had sagged to about 30 percent, has not yet announced a date for his departure.