TOKYO (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Shinzo Abe, 67 years old former prime minister of Japan, was shot and killed while giving a speech in the western city of Nara.
After the attack, Abe, who led the nation’s government for the longest period of time until he retired in 2020, was flown in a helicopter to a hospital. Since the 1930s, during the height of prewar militarism, this was the first assassination of a Japanese premier who was in office or had just left.
Before Abe’s passing was confirmed, the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, spoke out against the shooting in the “strongest terms,” to the alarm of the Japanese people and other world leaders. Political violence is uncommon in Japan, and firearms are strictly regulated.
Kishida struggled to control his emotions as he said that the attack was an act of savagery that happened during the elections – the very cornerstone of their democracy – and was totally inexcusable.
Abe was seen stumbling to the ground following the second shot, according to footage and stories carried by Japanese media. Abe’s address was interrupted by two loud bangs, apparently from a shotgun, and smoke.
He died at 5.03 p.m. (0803 GMT), some five and a half hours after being shot, said the hospital that sought to save him. Abe bled to death, according to a doctor, from two severe wounds, one of which was on the right side of his neck. When he was brought in, he had no vital signs.
Members from Abe’s security team hauled a man to the ground a few metres behind the former prime minister moments after the shooting. The suspect was in a light brown pair of pants, grey trainers, and a grey shirt. A surgical mask partially covered his face. He was apprehended at the spot, according to reports, and made no attempt to flee.
The culprit was identified by police as Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old Nara resident. Police reportedly stated that the weapon they believe was used in the attack was made at home, the local media sources reported. Two cylindrical metal pieces that looked to have been tightly tied with black tape were seen laying on the road close to the incident in a photograph.
Abe was a conservative politician famous for his “Abenomics” policy to rescue the third-largest economy in the world from deflation and for supporting a more significant role for Japan’s military to rebut rising threats from North Korea and a more forceful China. Abe had been in Nara to deliver a campaign speech ahead of this Sunday’s upper house elections.
After quitting suddenly as prime minister in 2007 after just one year in office, Abe unexpectedly returned in 2012 for a second term, promising to improve the economy, relax the restrictions of a post-second world war pacifist constitution, and reinstate conservative ideals.
In November 2019, Abe became the longest-serving leader in Japan. However, by the summer of 2020, the public had lost trust in him due to the way he handled the Covid-19 outbreak and a number of controversies, including the arrest of his former justice minister. Abe resigned without chairing the Games, which were delayed to 2021 owing to the pandemic, citing the reappearance of a longstanding bowel condition that had contributed to the early conclusion of his first tenure in office.
