Japan Upper House Pres. to Resign Due to Health Problem

   Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)--Hidehisa Otsuji, president of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan's parliament, has decided to resign due to a health problem, a source close to him said Tuesday.
   The 84-year-old says he has reached the limit of his physical strength due to poor health, according to the source.
   The Upper House is expected to elect a new president during the special parliamentary session likely to be convened Nov. 11. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is looking for Otsuji's successor.
   Otsuji won a parliamentary seat for the first time in the 1989 Upper House election after working as a member of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly in southwestern Japan.
   He has been elected to the upper chamber six times. He served as health minister, chairman of the general assembly of the LDP's Upper House members and head of Nippon Izokukai, a bereaved family organization for the war dead.

(2024/10/29-13:49)