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Abe resigned as prime minister just after one year in office due to medical complications from ulcerative colitis, shortly after his party lost that year’s House of Councillors election. He was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda, who became the first in a series of five prime ministers who each failed to retain office for more than sixteen months. After recovering from his illness, Abe staged an unexpected political comeback by defeating Shigeru Ishiba, the former defense minister, in a ballot to become LDP president for the second time in September 2012.
