A political dispute between two "madonna" lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party both contesting a ticket to run for Gifu's No. 1 district finally came to an end Friday after the party announced that Yukari Sato will run for Tokyo, rather than Gifu, in the next Lower House election.
Sato will be the LDP's official candidate for Tokyo's No. 5 district — stretching over Meguro Ward and part of Setagaya Ward — while her rival, Seiko Noda, a former post minister, grabbed the party's ticket for the Gifu seat, LDP executives announced during a news conference held at the party's headquarters in Tokyo.
The two have been contesting the Gifu ticket since Noda, who quit the LDP in 2005 after voting against then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization plan, returned to the party after being re-elected by the Gifu district as an independent.