Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe died at age 67 after being shot while campaigning for his LDP’s member in the city of Nara, according to NHK reported on Friday.
Abe, aged 67, was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020. He was a Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) member who was first elected to parliament in 1993.
He was shot on Friday while campaigning for the next parliamentary election on Sunday, with public broadcaster NHK saying a man with what seemed to be a handmade gun opened fire.
Police later arrested a 41-year-old guy on suspicion of attempted murder. He’s been identified as a former member of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The gunman revealed to police that he attempted to assassinate Abe because he was ‘dissatisfied’ with him, according to local reports.
In 2006, at the age of 52, Abe became Japan’s prime minister for the first time, making him the country’s youngest leader since the war ended. A year later, his party lost an election for the Upper House, and Abe resigned due to health problems.
In 2012, he led the LDP to a landslide win in the Lower House election and was re-elected prime minister and he stepped down again in 2020 due to health issues.
He became well-known for his “Abenomics” policy, which aimed at revitalizing the country’s economy.
