Nippon Ishin no Kai parted ways with Upper House lawmaker Muneo Suzuki on Tuesday over his surprise visit to Russia earlier this month.
"Suzuki met with party head Nobuyuki Baba and myself," Nippon Ishin Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. "He submitted a notice of resignation to Nippon Ishin, which was accepted, and he will leave the party."
Calls from within Nippon Ishin to punish Suzuki had been growing, especially after he gave an interview to Russian media in which he said he was convinced that Russia would be victorious in its war with Ukraine.