(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-13 15:09

Tokyo - Japan's prime minister was treated at a hospital for exhaustion Thursday, a day after he announced he would quit amid failure at the ballot box and a political brawl over the country's aid to US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a news conference at his official residence in Tokyo September 12, 2007. [Agencies]

Results of a medical examination will determine whether Shinzo Abe, 52, will remain in the hospital, said Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano. National broadcaster NHK reported later that Abe had been hospitalized following the examination, but officials at the prime minister's office said they could not immediately confirm the report.

"His doctor determined that his fatigue level has reached its peak, so I think that the doctor concluded that he needed to be examined at a well-equipped hospital," Yosano said.

Abe surprised members of his party and even his own Cabinet on Wednesday by deciding to resign only days after he pledged to stake his government on the success of legislation to extend a naval mission providing fuel for coalition warships in the Indian Ocean.

Abe, whose government was severely damaged by a string of scandals and his party's loss of control of the upper house of parliament in July elections, said someone more politically viable should shepherd the Afghan measure that the opposition is trying to scuttle.

"I decided a quick decision was necessary, and that a further delay would cause political confusion," he said during a nationally televised news conference. "I find myself unable to keep my promises - I myself have become an obstacle to fulfilling those promises."

Yosano had said medical problems contributed to Abe's decision. He said Abe had been receiving regular checkups from his personal doctor since returning from a regional meeting in Australia earlier this week, but refused to reveal further details.

Abe, the country's youngest postwar prime minister, listed the election defeat and an opposition leader's refusal to meet with him earlier in the day as signs that he could no longer lead.

It was clear, however, that Abe's unpopular government had become a liability for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which is facing increasing calls from the resurgent opposition to hold early elections for the powerful lower house of parliament.

Four of Abe's Cabinet ministers have resigned in scandals, including one who quit this month just a week after being appointed. An agriculture minister committed suicide over a money scandal in May.

"It appears Abe finally cracked under the psychological pressure," said Eiken Itagaki, a political analyst. "He stalled in trying to save his government after the election defeat, and now time has run out."

Abe, whose support ratings in opinion polls had sagged to about 30 percent, did not announce a date for his departure.

The Liberal Democratic Party said it would use a streamlined election process to choose his successor as party president, reportedly on Sept. 19. The party leader is guaranteed election as prime minister because the party controls parliament's lower house.

The front-runner to replace Abe, former foreign minister and fellow conservative Taro Aso, was expected to announce his candidacy later Thursday.

But calls for snap election for the powerful lower house of parliament, which chooses the prime minister, gathered steam Thursday amid the confusion.

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