Japan's minor party head to step down after election defeat

TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, a small opposition party in Japan, said Thursday she plans to quit from the post to take the responsibility for the party's defeat in the upper house election held on July 21.

The leader said at a meeting of the party that she is responsible for the defeat in the upper house election, as well as the failure in the lower house race last December, adding she will step down in September.

The party lost one seat of its two contested seats in the upper house election and also failed to secure its five seats in the lower house by losing three in December's race.

The party's executive board has approved Fukushima's resignation, according to local media.

The female politician was first elected to the upper house in 1998 and became the party's leader in 2003. Fukushima served as the consumer affairs minister under the ruling coalition with the Democratic Party of Japan following a general election in 2009.

We Recommend:
Dachshunds attend annual Wiener Dog Racing	Collective gay wedding held in Mexico City	Best photos of week (July 8 - July 14)
'Temple Collection' on display in India	Bastille Day military parade held in Paris	Indian new recruits attend passiong out parade
Anti- government protest held in Thailand	Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano spews ashes	Egypt unrest continues in Cairo