Osaka: Yukari Sato, a member of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), on Tuesday, expressed her intention to retire from politics, showing frustration at the way the LDP chooses candidates for the next general election. 

Sato currently heads the LDP’s local chapter for the No. 11 House of Representatives constituency in Osaka Prefecture, a position that will allow her to run in the next election from the district.

The LDP is currently considering the possibility of replacing heads of six Osaka constituencies, including Sato, after it lost to Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) in 15 Osaka constituencies in the previous 2021 Lower House election.

Expressing frustration at the LDP’s move, Sato, a 61-year-old former Lower House member, told a press conference in the Osaka city of Hirakata, “I thought that quitting gracefully on this occasion is the right thing to do as a politician.”

Sato, who won her first parliamentary seat in the 2005 Lower House election, won three elections for the chamber and one election for the House of Councillors.

JIJI Press