Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader Toru Hashimoto and Secretary-General Ichiro Matsui offered to step down Saturday "to focus on their political agenda in Osaka" but decided to stay after being persuaded by other party executives, people at the meeting said.
Hashimoto and Matsui offered to quit at the meeting in Tokyo, but Tokyo-based Diet members in Nippon Ishin all argued they should stay, said Matsui, who is governor of Osaka Prefecture.
Regardless, the pair are expected to have less clout on the national stage now because Matsui said they have agreed to let Nippon Ishin's Diet ranks manage the party's affairs in the legislature from now on.