TOKYO, May 12 (UPI) -- The secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan Wednesday asked Ichiro Ozawa to lead the party in place of Naoto Kan, who has resigned.
Ozawa, who has been acting leader of the DPJ, said he would accept the leadership only if the entire party supported him, Mainichi Shimbun reported.
"The DPJ secretary-general (Katsuya Okada) asked me to replace outgoing party leader Naoto Kan," Ozawa told a news conference in Tokyo. "I told him that I take the offer seriously, and that I'm willing to meet him again if he can represent the opinion of the whole party executive committee."
Ozawa emphasized he asked all party members to consider whether electing him party leader is a good way to achieve his goal of establishing parliamentary democracy in the nation.
Kan quit Monday to take responsibility for his failure to pay some of his national pension premiums while he was serving as welfare minister.
