Koike to step down as Hope party president

Nov 14 (NHK) - Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike says she wants to step down as president of the opposition party Hope.

The party elected Lower House lawmaker Yuichiro Tamaki as co-leader last week.

Koike met Tamaki on Monday and entrusted him with appointing new leadership for the party.

On Tuesday, the governor told the party's lawmakers in both chambers of the Diet she will resign as president and leave party affairs to the new leadership.

Koike launched Hope in September. She and former head of the opposition Democratic Party Seiji Maehara decided to effectively merge their parties.

But the decision split the Democrats over issues such as Japan's new national security legislation.

Hope fielded 235 candidates in last month's general election, but won only 50 seats. That's 7 fewer than what it had before the vote.

Koike said after the election that she would stay on as president but have lawmakers run the party.

When Tamaki was elected co-leader, Koike rallied support for him.

Koike is expected to focus on running the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

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