Politics & Government

Reiwa Shinsengumi party leader Yamamoto to resign as lower house member

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Taro Yamamoto, who leads the Reiwa Shinsengumi party, announces his resignation as a lower house member in Tokyo on Friday.

Jiji Press

12:42 JST, April 15, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Taro Yamamoto, leader of Japanese opposition party Reiwa Shinsengumi, on Friday submitted his resignation as a House of Representatives member to run in this summer’s House of Councillors election.

“I’ve decided to resign because I think it necessary to increase the party’s seats in the next election” for the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, Yamamoto told a press conference.

In the Upper House election, he plans to run in a prefectural constituency, though he did not say which constituency he will run in.

Yamamoto was elected to the all-important lower chamber from the Tokyo proportional representation bloc in October last year. His resignation is expected to be approved at a Lower House plenary meeting as early as Tuesday.

Yamamoto is in his first term as a Lower House member. If his resignation is approved, the party’s runner-up candidate under the proportional representation system is expected to take the vacant seat.