Bowing to pressure from within the Democratic Party of Japan, Ichiro Ozawa surprised the political world Monday by announcing his resignation as DPJ president to take responsibility for the political fundraising scandal involving his chief aide.
Ozawa's resignation, although not effective immediately, comes at a critical time as both the ruling and opposition camps gird for a general election that must be held before Lower House members' terms end in September.
The two names being floated as his possible successor — Katsuya Okada and Naoto Kan — are both past DPJ presidents.