where the streets have no name

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose year-old government has suffered a string of damaging scandals and a humiliating electoral defeat, has told ruling party leaders he wants to resign, news reports said Wednesday.

National broadcaster NHK said Abe made the announcement in a morning meeting with ruling party leaders, citing unidentified top officials of the Liberal Democratic Party. Other TV networks carried similar reports.

Abe spokesman Hiroshi Suzuki, deputy Cabinet secretary, said he was aware of the reports but he could not immediately confirm them.

The reports come after Abe’s scandal-scarred government lost control of the House of Councillors in July 29 elections.

Abe, whose support ratings have plunged since he took office a year ago, was facing a battle in the Diet over his efforts to extend the country’s refueling mission in support of the U.S.-led operation in Afghanistan.

The plenary session of the lower house was to be delayed, media reports said, but an official of the lower house could not confirm the news, saying she had not heard of anything.

Aconteceu oque já era esperado, o primeiro ministro japones Abe Shinzo renunciou ao hoje. Desde o inicio do ano ele já vinha sendo atacado e questionado sobre sua politica/postura. Já era de se esperar, nem cara de primeiro ministro, nem pulso firme ele tinha… Agora é esperar pra ver se o proximo consegue ser melhor que o Koizumi.

fonte bbc