An earlier edition of this message incorrectly indicated the number of days before an election when the crusade is authorized. It’s 18 days, 20.
Motoko Rich and Russel Goldman
When Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, announced in late 2020 that he would resign, he ended a term in the workplace that pursued, with combined effects, a conservative program to repair the country’s economy, military and national pride.
Abe, then 65, the grandson of a prime minister, was first elected to parliament in 1993 after the death of his father, a former foreign minister. He first served as prime minister in 2006, but resigned after a scandal-plagued year. .
He was the country’s leader in 2012, vowing to fix its besieged economy and realize his nationalist dream of amending Japan’s pacifist charter to allow for a full-fledged army.
After serving nearly eight years in power, he said his fragile physical condition, a relapse of an intestinal illness that contributed to his last exit in 2007, led him to resign.
The former popular leader, however, had noticed that his position with the rest of the Japanese was declining, and has been criticized for his handling of the country’s coronavirus outbreak and for being a detained member of his party.
rich motoko
TOKYO ( ) — Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, is in critical condition after he was shot dead Friday morning while delivering a speech in western Japan, according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Images circulating on social media showed Abe, 67, collapsed and bleeding to the ground in the city of Nara, near Kyoto. Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Abe fired in the right neck and left side of the chest.
Police said they had arrested a suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, on attempted murder charges. The suspect had used “firearm-like equipment,” which was recovered from the scene, a police spokesman said.
Footage shared on social media shows a guy being beaten after the shooting near Yamatosaidaiji station. The guy is a resident of Nara, according to NHK, the public broadcaster. The detailed motive for the shooting was made public not without delay.
Kishida, who campaigned in Yamagata Prefecture and returned to Tokyo after the shooting, told a news convention that the attack was a “heinous act,” adding, “It’s barbaric and malicious, and it can’t be tolerated. “
He added: “Currently, doctors are doing everything they can. At this time, I hope and pray that the former P. M. Abe will do it. “
Seigo Yasuhara, an official at the Nara Fire Brigade Command Center, said that after the shooting, Mr. Abe suffered cardiorespiratory arrest and was taken in an ambulance, unconscious and without major symptoms, to a medical evacuation helicopter. then taken to Nara Medical University Hospital, Nara firefighters said.
Hirokazu Matsuno, prime minister Kishida’s chief cabinet secretary, said a crisis control center had been set up inside the prime minister’s office.
Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, served two terms, from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020. He resigned in 2020 due to health issues.
The former prime minister was in Nara doing a crusade ahead of elections to the top of parliament scheduled for Sunday. Abe was giving a cross-talk on behalf of Kei Sato, 43, an existing member of the top who is running for re-election in Nara. He had been talking for less than a minute when two loud explosions were heard around 11:30 a. m.
Yoshio Ogita, 74, secretary-general of Nara Prefecture’s Liberal Democratic segment, stood by Abe. Il said he heard two loud noises and saw a plume of white smoke rising into the sky.
Mr. Abe fell from a small 20-inch stand, where he had placed himself so that he could be just above the crowd.
“I didn’t know what had happened,” Mr. Ogita said in a phone interview Friday afternoon. “I saw him collapse.