The House of Representatives on Thursday approved the resignation of Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yuzuru Tsuzuki following the Supreme Court's upholding of his aides' conviction for violating election laws.
Tsuzuki, 54, submitted a letter of resignation to the Lower House on Tuesday, shortly after the top court upheld sentences on two of his aides for promising to pay election campaign workers in last year's general election.
The Supreme Court's No. 3 Petty Bench found Toshihiko Kusano and Nobumoto Iseki guilty of breaking the election law, which bans paying or promising to pay campaign workers or voters.
Under the law, a lawmaker must forfeit the Diet seat if senior campaign staff, aides or family members violate the Public Offices Election Law.
Tsuzuki ran in Aichi's No. 15 single-seat constituency for the main opposition party in last November's general election but lost. However, he won a Diet seat under the proportional representation segment in the same election.
Kenji Tamura, the runnerup on the DPJ's proportional representation list, is expected to take Tsuzuki's seat.