Disarray in the Democratic Party of Japan continued Friday as members approved the immediate resignation of Secretary-General Goshi Hosono, in an about-face to their president's earlier decision to keep him in the post until the end of August.
The largest opposition group was also set to suspend the membership of former Prime Minister and DPJ chief Naoto Kan for three months and to strip him of the title of supreme adviser, as high-ranking members decided at a meeting Friday to take the matter to the party's ethics committee.
"The secretary-general has to make important decisions now, and I should not be the one when I have already expressed my intention to resign," Hosono told the plenary meeting of DPJ lawmakers. The DPJ's acting president, Akihiro Ohata, was picked to replace him.