Head of influential Japan opposition party suspended over extramarital affair

A small but increasingly influential Japanese opposition party decided Wednesday to suspend its leader, Yuichiro Tamaki, for three months following a media report about an extramarital affair.

Tamaki said he accepted the decision made by the Democratic Party for the People, which quadrupled its seats to 28 in the 465-member House of Representatives in the Oct. 27 general election. But he ruled out stepping down as party chief.

During the suspension period until March 3 next year, Motohisa Furukawa, the acting president, will take over for Tamaki, who has recently been involved in policy negotiations with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Some analysts said the suspension could hit the opposition party's popularity, in turn complicating the situation for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's LDP, which is now leading a minority government with its ally the Komeito party after the coalition lost its majority in the lower house.

"I take the decision seriously," Tamaki told reporters, apologizing to voters who supported the DPP. He has acknowledged that the report about a secret meeting with a woman at a hotel published by a magazine last month was mostly accurate.

Tamaki will be unable to lead talks with the LDP and its junior coalition partner on his party's proposal to raise the income tax threshold, a step aimed at helping households suffering from rising prices of everyday goods.

Ishiba has agreed to review the threshold, currently set at 1.03 million yen, as the ruling bloc needs support from the opposition camp to pass budgets and bills in parliament.