Former Japanese leader says Shinzo Abe might step down as prime minister in June

Shinzo Abe.
(Image credit: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)

A former Japanese prime minister is predicting that the country's embattled current leader, Shinzo Abe, will resign in June.

"The situation is getting dangerous," Junichiro Koizumi told the weekly magazine Aera. "Won't Mr. Abe resign around the time parliament's session ends," on June 20? Abe has denied several reports that he intervened in land sales and building deals to help friends, but he's facing mounting calls to step down. On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated near parliament, chanting, "Abe quit!"

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.