Today Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan announced his intention to resign due to a recurring illness. He recently became Japan’s longest-serving prime minister and will step down about a year before his current term was set to expire. Abe’s successor will be determined in September after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) selects a new party leader and schedules a vote in a special session of the Diet (parliament), which the LDP controls. Today’s announcement expedited the transition to a new era in Japanese politics centered on the prospects for stability and policy continuity that were hallmarks of Abe’s tenure.
