Monday, September 01, 2008

Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda resigns

Unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda resigned today less than a year after replacing Shinzo Abe quit due to ill health.

Opinion polls gave Fukuda less than a 30 percent approval rating, and he was routinely blocked in the Diet, the Japanese legislature, by the upper house-controlling opposition party.

The surprise announcement brought calls for snap elections by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party has ruled Japan for almost its entire history following World War II.



Voice of America

Fukuda gives up the unequal struggle
Financial Times, UK - 1 hour ago
Less than a year after Shinzo Abe, the aristocratic nationalist prime minister, quit on the grounds of ill health, Yasuo Fukuda has become the second ...
Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda resigns guardian.co.uk
Japanese Prime Minister Announces Resignation Voice of America
Japanese Prime Minister in shock resignation after less than a ... Daily Mail



 Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has announced his resignation. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.Play
Japanese PM resigns CNN via Yahoo! News - Sep 01 9:02 AM


Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda leaves after a press conference at his official residence in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. Fukuda, 72, suddenly announced his resignation after less than a year in office Monday, throwing the world's second-largest economy into political confusion. Fukuda said he was stepping down to avoid a 'political vacuum' as the deeply troubled government heads into a special parliamentary session later in the month. (AP Photo/Toru Takahashi)