TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Yoshihiko Noda, secretary general of Japan's main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), announced Tuesday he will resign from his post, according to public broadcaster NHK.
While addressing a meeting of party lawmakers, Noda said he wanted to vacate his position to take account for the Democratic Party's drubbing in the recent Tokyo metropolitan assembly election.
The Democratic Party won only five seats in the election while losing two seats secured by the party prior to the election.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also took a historic clobbering from Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's newly-formed Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First party), which won the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election and possibly set a new direction for national politics.
Noda was elected in 1993 to the Diet for first time representing Chiba's Lower House District No. 4 as a member of the Japan New Party, which no longer exists.
After joining the DPJ, he served as the party's Diet affairs chief and head of its public relations office.
From 2011 to 2012 he served as the nation's prime minister, succeeding Naoto Kan in a runoff vote against Banri Kaieda in his party.
In December 2012, after conceding a heavy defeat in a general election, he stepped down as the party's leader.
