Hiroshi Moriyama, the chairman of the parliamentary affairs committee with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said the government should resume its work without delay, according to the Kyodo news agency.
The LDP controls the lower house of parliament and its next president is almost certain to head the government. The leadership contest Abe begins on September 8 and ends in a vote on September 14.
Abe’s longtime right-hand man Yoshihide Suga is touted as the favourite. He is challenged by former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and ex-Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Suga said he would continue Abe’s signature economic policy, and seek a peace treaty with Russia and a meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
The outgoing prime minister is leaving office due to ulcerative colitis, a chronic disease that already caused him to abandon the premiership in 2007. Despite those circumstances, he once again assumed the prime minister's chair in 2012 and went on to become the longest-serving Japanese head of government.
