When Shinzo Abe resigned as prime minister 11 years ago it came out of nowhere, two days after a major policy speech. Now, Tokyo is wondering if he'll shock the government again.
Abe's future has come under intense speculation amid a drip-feed of scandals that have prompted a series of public apologies and driven his poll numbers to near record lows. Critics within his Liberal Democratic Party are going public ahead of a scheduled vote on the party leadership in September, while his former mentor, ex-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, predicted in an interview with the Shukan Asahi magazine that Abe would step down in June.
The prime minister's travails just six months after leading the LDP to a landslide win are casting doubt on a policy agenda that has over the past five years bolstered Japan's military and attracted investors with a weaker yen. While LDP would be expected to fend off any election challenge by an opposition that has struggled to unite, Abe's departure could prompt policy confusion as potential contenders in his own party horse-trade for support.