TOKYO - Japan's unpopular prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, announced his resignation Monday after less than a year in office.
Fukuda, in a hastily arranged news conference Monday evening, said he was stepping down to avoid a "political vacuum" at the head of the world's second-largest economy.
"My decision is based on what I thought the future political situation ought to be," Fukuda said.
The 72-year-old has suffered from chronically low support ratings as he presided over a parliament split between the ruling party and the opposition.
The move extends Japan's stretch of political instability of recent years. Fukuda's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, resigned last September after barely a year in office.
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福田首相の記者会見が21時半から始まるというので、何かと思っていたら、突然の辞任表明。
突然のことで驚きました。
Fukuda, in a hastily arranged news conference Monday evening, said he was stepping down to avoid a "political vacuum" at the head of the world's second-largest economy.
"My decision is based on what I thought the future political situation ought to be," Fukuda said.
The 72-year-old has suffered from chronically low support ratings as he presided over a parliament split between the ruling party and the opposition.
The move extends Japan's stretch of political instability of recent years. Fukuda's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, resigned last September after barely a year in office.
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福田首相の記者会見が21時半から始まるというので、何かと思っていたら、突然の辞任表明。
突然のことで驚きました。