Former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Wednesday he would retire from politics at next month’s election and leave the party he founded.
Hatoyama, whose wild-eyed expression contributed to his being dubbed “The Alien” by the Japanese press, met Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Wednesday.
Noda told reporters that Hatoyama had said he “will not run in the general election, and is retiring from politics”.
Commentators say the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will get a drubbing at the December 16 poll.
Hatoyama’s opposition to Noda’s sales tax rise and plans to join a trans-Pacific free trade deal were instrumental in the decision, earlier reports said.
“I don’t have a choice but to leave the party because the party’s policy is way too different from my ideals,” he told supporters, according to the Asahi Shimbun.
Hatoyama – who adopted his “Alien” nickname – will explain the reasons for his decision to his constituency in Hokkaido in northern Japan later on Wednesday, reports said.