Japan's Main Opposition Leader Resigns Amid Turmoil in Her Party
- Renho was first female leader of a major party in decades
- Democratic Party suffered humiliating defeat in Tokyo election
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The leader of Japan’s struggling main opposition party said Thursday she would resign after less than a year in the job.
Renho, who generally goes by only one name, became the first woman in two decades to lead a major political party in Japan when she took the helm of the Democratic Party last September. But high expectations were not fulfilled. She failed to smooth over intra-party clashes and oversaw a heavy defeat in the Tokyo local assembly election earlier this month.