Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe's condition is very critical after he was shot on Friday while campaigning for parliamentary election. Confirming Abe's health status, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said doctors are working very hard to save him.
“I'm praying for former prime minister Abe's survival from the bottom of my heart,” he said. Kishida called the attack barbaric, adding that the crime during the election campaign, which is the foundation of democracy, is absolutely unforgivable.
Police arrested a male suspect at the scene of the shooting in Nara. Public broadcaster NHK quoted the suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, as telling police he was dissatisfied with Abe and wanted to kill him.
According to reports, Kishida has suspended his election campaign and is on his way to Tokyo from Sagae City in Yamagata Prefecture. Elections to Japan’s upper house are scheduled to be held on Sunday.
NHK aired dramatic footage of Abe giving a speech outside of a main train station in Nara. He is standing, dressed in a navy blue suit, raising his fist, when a gunshot is heard. Footage then shows Abe collapsed on the street, with several security guards running toward him. He is holding his chest, his shirt smeared with blood.
World leaders stunned
Reacting to the news of Abe being shot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply distressed”. He tweeted: “Deeply distressed by the attack on my dear friend Abe Shinzo. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his family, and the people of Japan.”
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the nation was deeply saddened and deeply concerned" over the attempted killing of Abe. “Our thoughts, our prayers are with him, with his family, with the people of Japan. This is a very, very sad moment," he said on the sidelines of the Group of 20 rich and developing nations meeting on Indonesia's Bali island.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was in Sydney meeting with Albanese on Friday, said she was deeply shocked. “He was one of the first leaders I formally met when I became Prime Minister. He was deeply committed to his role, and also generous and kind. I recall him asking after the recent loss of our pet when I met him, a small gesture but one that speaks to the kind of person he is," Ardern said.
