ID :
78316
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 14:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/78316
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New Komeito chief Ota set to resign, Yamaguchi to be named new head
TOKYO, Sept. 3 Kyodo -
New Komeito party chief Akihiro Ota announced Thursday he will step down to
take responsibility for his party's crushing defeat in Sunday's House of
Representatives election, prompting party officials to launch talks to select
policy chief Natsuo Yamaguchi as his successor.
''The entire responsibility for the results of the lower house election rests
with me and I have decided to resign as head,'' Ota, who was unseated in the
election, told a press conference after his resignation was approved at a key
party meeting.
Intraparty negotiations to appoint Yamaguchi as Ota's successor are being
wrapped up, sources familiar with the matter said. New Komeito is expected to
endorse Yamaguchi's appointment as party chief on Tuesday at an extraordinary
meeting of nationwide party representatives after party executives decide on
the plan Monday.
Along with Ota, Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa, who also failed to retain his
seat, said he will also call it quits.
New Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic
Party, lost in all of the single-seat constituencies it contested, cutting its
presence in the lower house to 21 seats from 31.
The party did not include Ota, Kitagawa and six other candidates it fielded in
the single-seat districts on its proportional representation lists on the
assumption they would win in their constituencies, a strategy that cost New
Komeito dearly.
The party's top post ''should be assumed by a parliamentarian because, as an
opposition party, it is important to promote our party's policies through Diet
deliberations,'' Ota said.
His successor should be ''a leader capable of securing a victory in the House
of Councillors election next summer,'' he said, expressing hopes for major
gains for the party in the upper house election.
Ota and Kitagawa offered their resignations at an executive meeting earlier
Thursday and their offers were approved later at a meeting of the party's top
executives. Both men will remain in their posts until their successors are
decided.
Commenting on developments within the party, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo
Kawamura told a news conference that the LDP hopes to continue discussing
policies with New Komeito, based on their partnership over the past decade.
==Kyodo
New Komeito party chief Akihiro Ota announced Thursday he will step down to
take responsibility for his party's crushing defeat in Sunday's House of
Representatives election, prompting party officials to launch talks to select
policy chief Natsuo Yamaguchi as his successor.
''The entire responsibility for the results of the lower house election rests
with me and I have decided to resign as head,'' Ota, who was unseated in the
election, told a press conference after his resignation was approved at a key
party meeting.
Intraparty negotiations to appoint Yamaguchi as Ota's successor are being
wrapped up, sources familiar with the matter said. New Komeito is expected to
endorse Yamaguchi's appointment as party chief on Tuesday at an extraordinary
meeting of nationwide party representatives after party executives decide on
the plan Monday.
Along with Ota, Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa, who also failed to retain his
seat, said he will also call it quits.
New Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic
Party, lost in all of the single-seat constituencies it contested, cutting its
presence in the lower house to 21 seats from 31.
The party did not include Ota, Kitagawa and six other candidates it fielded in
the single-seat districts on its proportional representation lists on the
assumption they would win in their constituencies, a strategy that cost New
Komeito dearly.
The party's top post ''should be assumed by a parliamentarian because, as an
opposition party, it is important to promote our party's policies through Diet
deliberations,'' Ota said.
His successor should be ''a leader capable of securing a victory in the House
of Councillors election next summer,'' he said, expressing hopes for major
gains for the party in the upper house election.
Ota and Kitagawa offered their resignations at an executive meeting earlier
Thursday and their offers were approved later at a meeting of the party's top
executives. Both men will remain in their posts until their successors are
decided.
Commenting on developments within the party, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo
Kawamura told a news conference that the LDP hopes to continue discussing
policies with New Komeito, based on their partnership over the past decade.
==Kyodo
