Tokyo, Japan – Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister in history, announces his resignation, citing worsening health condition.

“Even though there is one year to go in my tenure and there are challenges to be met, I have decided to stand down as prime minister.”

The announcement comes days after he made at least two hospital visits in a week. Abe suffers from ulcerative colitis, a non-curable inflammatory bowel disease.

Abe apologised to the people of Japan for being unable to fulfil his duties during the coronavirus pandemic.

Abe’s political career

Abe became Japan’s youngest prime minister in 2006, at age 52 but his term ended just a year later because of his health. He returned to power in December 2012 and won six straight national elections thereafter.

After Abe’s re-election in 2012, he launched a grand experiment popularly known as “Abenomics,” to revive the country’s economy and boost consumer and investor confidence.

Abe has been a firm conservative politician and is known for his nationalist policies, particular his leanings towards revisionist history.

One of Abe’s major domestic achievements was securing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a success that was ultimately undone by the coronavirus, which forced the competition to be postponed to 2021.

CNN’s Will Ripley reflects on Shinzo Abe’s political career as the prime minister in a report.

Japan’s next prime minister

Abe said he will remain in office until a successor is chosen.

The Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Abe, will convene next Tuesday to hold an election for a replacement as party leader, Kyodo news agency reports.

After which, a parliamentary vote will follow to elect a new prime minister.

Potential successors have already emerged, including Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida, who is rumoured to be Mr Abe’s choice.

None are expected to deviate significantly from the government’s current policies.

The next elected prime minister would hold the post until the end of Mr Abe’s term in September 2021.

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120 million direct jobs in tourism at risk worldwide

Travel and tourism industry is the lifeblood of the Caribbean region. In fact, this part ofthe Americas has already been described as the most “tourism-dependent region” in the world. But because of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the main source that pumps life into the pristine beaches for most islands went dry this year.

This is a drastic blow to the region, which has just set an all-time record for visitor arrivals in 2019, according to a report from the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization. Visitors totaled 31.5 million, the highest total in the region’s history.

As the region begins to restart its tourism economy along with most countries in the world, the United Nations (UN) has released its secretary-general’s recent policy brief, underscoring the importance of rebuilding the tourism sector in a way that is “safe, equitable and climate friendly.”

“Tourism is one of the world’s most important economic sectors,” said António Guterres, UN’s ninth secretary-general. “It employs one in every ten people on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds of millions more. It boosts economies and enables countries to thrive.”

In his policy brief, Guterres highlighted that “in the first five months of this year, international tourist arrivals decreased by more than half and some $320 billion dollars in exports from tourism were lost.”

In total, some 120 million direct jobs in tourism could be lost, and many come from the informal economy or in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Most of the employees or workers in these enterprises are women and young people.

A “safe, equitable and climate friendly” sector

In rebuilding tourism, Guterres emphasized that “sustainable and responsible travel is imperative to support the millions that depend on tourism for their livelihoods.”

Guterres focused on five priority areas to aid recovery and re-establish an industry that is safe for host communities, workers, and travellers.

The first one is the mitigation of the socio-economic impacts of the crisis, while zeoring in on women’s employment and economic security.

Secondly, Guterres suggests building resilience across the entire tourism sector.

The third one is maximizing technology throughout the industry, “by promoting innovation and investing in digital skills.”

His fourth point is to promote sustainability and green growth in managing the shift towards a resilient, carbon-neutral tourism sector.

And finally, he encourages that partnerships must be fostered to responsibly ease and lift travel restrictions in a coordinated manner to restart and transform tourism towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Let us ensure tourism regains its position as a provider of decent jobs, stable incomes and the protection of our cultural and natural heritage”, concluded the UN Secretary-General.

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