TOKYO, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he will resign after a year in office because of difficulties getting an anti-terrorism law extended.
The 52-year-old Abe, who has seen his poll ratings plunge, his Cabinet hit by scandals and resignations, and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party lose its majority in the upper house of Parliament in the July elections, told a news conference he also finds it difficult to regain public trust, Kyodo news service reported.
''I made my determination today to step down,'' Abe, who took office only last September, told reporters.
In recent weeks, Abe has been pressing hard to win extension of legislation allowing Japanese vessels to provide refueling facilities in the Indian Ocean in support of the U.S.-led anti-terrorism effort in Afghanistan. If not renewed, the arrangement, opposed by some opposition parties, will expire in November.
Abe said he failed to get main opposition Democratic Party of Japan's President Ichiro Ozawa to agree to a meeting on the extension issue, Kyodo reported.
Abe was quoted as saying it is better for him to step down to allow a successor can pursue the issue.
