Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, who has been in political hot water since the March 3 arrest of his chief aide over alleged political donations irregularities, announced his resignation Monday as leader of the Democratic Party of Japan. Considering the strong call for his resignation to help restore party unity and smooth the way for Japan's political schedule, including the Diet deliberations on the fiscal 2009 supplementary budget, Monday was probably the last good opportunity for him to use his resignation announcement in a politically effective way.

Had he continued to remain as head of the No. 1 opposition party, the party could have suffered a weakening schism and lost further support from the people. Some DPJ Diet members, especially those whose election machines in their constituencies are weak, had been calling for his resignation.

In announcing his resignation, Mr. Ozawa said that he decided to resign so that the DPJ could establish and strengthen party unity and be able to win the coming Lower House Election. He emphasized that his resignation is aimed to ultimately bring about a change of government and help parliamentary democracy firmly take root in Japan.