Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda resigns

In a bit of breaking news, the current prime minister of Japan, Yasuo Fukuda, has officially announced his resignation! While he hasn’t been the most popular prime minister in recent years, he said the reason he is resigning is due to political deadlock. The upperhouse is controlled by the opposition party, while Fukuda’s party controls the lower house. Fukuda says,

If we are to prioritise the people’s livelihoods, there cannot be a political vacuum from political bargaining, or a lapse in policies. We need a new team to carry out policies.

The general election was to be held in September 2009. The interesting thing to note is that there may not be an election to replace Fukuda. The law states that his party, the Liberal Democratic Party, must pick a new leader. To me, Fukuda’s resignation is just testament to him not being a strong leader. If he resigned because of the divide between the upper and lower houses, by the liberal democratic party choosing a new leader, who’s to say that they wont have the same problem Fukuda had? Rather than sticking it through, he has chosen to just resign.

Some have speculated that it may even be Taro Aso, who was beaten by Fukuda earlier, to take the helm as Japanese prime minister. If it is Aso, we may see Japan’s first manga loving leader.

For video of Fukuda’s resignation, watch it here.

Via Danny Choo, FG, and Reuters.