The Democratic Party of Japan elected young conservative Seiji Maehara as its new president Saturday, passing over veteran former party leader Naoto Kan after suffering a devastating defeat in the House of Representatives election last week.
Maehara, 43, defeated the 58-year-old Kan by a razor-thin count of 96-94 in open balloting among party members from both chambers of the Diet.
Two members abstained from the voting, held at a Tokyo hotel, and two others cast invalid votes.