Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he still feels responsible for failing to fulfill his duties as national leader but must suppress any ambitions for a comeback.
Scion of a political family and Japan's youngest postwar leader when he succeeded Junichiro Koizumi in September 2006, Abe now insists he must block out any thoughts of a return to the top post.
"I think I should refrain from any thought of my own ambitions — or rather, I should just push such ideas out of my head," Abe said in a speech at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. "And also, I don't think (my return) is in demand at the moment."