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Japan's outgoing PM in hospital
13/09/2007 10:34 - (SA)
Tokyo - Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was hospitalised on Thursday with extreme fatigue following his abrupt resignation, officials said.
Abe sought medical attention amid growing speculation about whether ill health may have been partly behind his decision to step down.
"Prime Minister Abe is now hospitalised," said an official at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo.
His doctor will explain about his condition at a press conference to be held later in the afternoon, the official added.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano said earlier that Abe had been diagnosed as suffering from exhaustion.
"Prime Minister Abe is seeing a doctor at a Tokyo hospital due to his poor physical condition," he said.
"I hear that the doctor diagnosed him as suffering from extreme fatigue and recommended he be examined more closely."
"Since he returned from his trip abroad, the doctor has visited the prime minister's official residence quite often," Yosano said, referring to his tour of India, Indonesia and Malaysia last month.
Local media reported Abe's health had deteriorated since his party's major defeat in upper house elections on July 29 and that he had been receiving intravenous fluids.
"He has not been feeling well and has been seeing a doctor for a week," Taro Aso, the secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was quoted as telling reporters.
Abe did not mention his health when announcing his resignation on Wednesday.
But the top government spokesperson later suggested health reasons may have been partly behind the decision, which was widely criticised by Japanese newspapers.
The timing of Abe's announcement surprised the nation, coming just two weeks after he reshuffled his cabinet and only two days after he had told parliament he intended to stay in office to continue his reform agenda.
Abe has been under intense pressure after a wave of scandals involving his ministers and public anger over mismanagement of the pension system.
The premier is also struggling to renew legislation underpinning Japanese military support for US forces operating in Afghanistan, with the opposition pledging to oppose it.
- AFP
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