Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's sudden announcement of his resignation came as a surprise, even to his close aides. Just two days before, he had delivered a policy speech at the start of the extraordinary Diet session, and 15 days before, he had reshuffled his Cabinet.

Mr. Abe's resignation is a riddle and even illogical in view of a statement he made just on Sunday in Sydney. There he declared to the effect that he would do his utmost to extend the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling activities in the Indian Ocean for naval ships of the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Pakistan in an antiterrorism support mission. He said he would stake his job as prime minister on attaining the stated goal, which he characterized as an international promise, and confirmed that he was ready to resign if he failed to attain this goal.

The law on which the MSDF's Indian Ocean activities are based expires Nov. 1. Although he expressed strong determination to extend the MSDF's mission, Mr. Abe announced in Tokyo on Wednesday that he would resign. He also skipped a Lower House plenary session for the day in which he was to reply to questions posed by representatives of political parties, an important part of a prime minister's job.

If he resigns this way, a very likely question is why he did not quit just after his Liberal Democratic Party's crushing defeat in the July 29 Upper House election. The election cost the LDP-Komeito coalition its majority in the Upper House and made the Democratic Party of Japan the top party there, making it impossible for the ruling coalition to force bills through the Diet. It should be reminded that the basic political situation surrounding Mr. Abe remains the same as it was at that time.

During the election campaign, Mr. Abe insisted that the key issue should be the choice between him and DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa. The logic then should have been that he should resign if the LDP lost in the election. Despite the LDP's rout in the election, Mr. Abe decided to stay in power. He explained: "While making an electioneering tour of Japan, I recognized that the election results would be very severe. But I didn't think I should run away from my duty and allow a political vacuum to occur. So I have decided (to stay in power)."

His resignation at this time gives the impression that his explanation after the election was false. Ironically, Mr. Abe himself has created a political vacuum through his delayed resignation.

At a news conference Wednesday, Mr. Abe mentioned his failure to get DPJ leader Ozawa to meet with him on the issue of the MSDF's Indian Ocean mission as the direct factor that led him to decide to resign. But how can a failure to persuade an opposition leader to have a meeting justify a prime minister's resignation?

If Mr. Abe is serious about extending the MSDF mission, the ruling coalition, which holds more than two-thirds of the Lower House seats, could enact a bill to extend or renew the mission. Even if it was defeated in the Upper House and sent back to the Lower House, the coalition group has the legal means of enacting the returned bill.

Mr. Abe said he wanted the situation to take a new turn through his resignation and that the "war on terror" should be pursued under a new prime minister, meaning that the new prime minister should do the work of extending or renewing the MSDF mission. He also hinted at a fear that political confusion will arise if the opposition camp passes a censure resolution against him in the Upper House in the event that the Lower House passes a returned MSDF mission bill.

But regardless of who is prime minister, such political confusion can still develop as long as the DPJ opposes continuing the MSDF's Indian Ocean mission.

Explaining his decision to resign, Mr. Abe also said, "I reshuffled the Cabinet with the determination to push 'reform.' But under the present situation and in view of (the lack of) the people's support and trust, it is difficult to push policy measures vigorously. So I decided to seek a breakthrough in the situation by taking responsibility." If he talks about the lack of people's support and trust, he should have talked about it right after the Upper House election and taken a proper action. The timing of his resignation suggests that as a politician he is incapable of making an appropriate decision at the right time.

Although Mr. Abe showed his pragmatism by visiting South Korea and China to mend Japan's relations with those countries just after coming into power, he was basically an ideology-oriented conservative, as shown by his call to revise the Constitution, the basis of Japan's postwar democracy, and strengthening of state control of education through a revision of the Fundamental Law of Education. The next prime minister should concentrate on key issues that affect people's lives, including the economic gap, the pension system and medical services.