Democratic Party leader Katsuya Okada said Sunday he will not run for the presidency in September if the opposition party's candidate in his hometown loses in the Upper House election.
The DP candidate in Mie Prefecture, Hirokazu Shiba, and a candidate backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Sachiko Yamamoto, are locked in a close race for the July 10 House of Councilors election.
"If we lose, I would not be qualified as the head and I would not run in the next leadership election," Okada, who was elected to the Lower House from Mie, told reporters in the prefecture.
By mentioning the possibility of himself not joining the party leadership race, Okada is believed to be aiming to spur the DP to redouble its Upper House election campaign efforts, with media polls indicating an early lead by the ruling camp.
Okada has revealed his party's goal of preventing the LDP-led ruling coalition from gaining a majority of the 121 seats contested in the Upper House election. In the triennial election, half of all Upper House seats are up for grabs.
He has not clarified how he plans to take responsibility if his party fails to achieve the election goal.
Okada is a House of Representatives lawmaker elected from the No. 3 constituency of Mie Prefecture.