On September 14, an extraordinary party convention was convened in Tokyo to carry out the election for DPJ President. Naoto Kan gained a total of 721 points in the election and was re-elected as President. The breakdown of results in the various voters categories is as follows: out of a total of 300 points for party members and supporters Ichiro Ozawa gained 51 points and Naoto Kan 249; out of a total of 100 points for local assembly members Ozawa gained 40 points and Kan gained 60 points, and out of a total of 812 points for Diet members Ozawa gained 400 points and Kan 412 points. Final totals were 491 points for Ozawa and 721 points for Kan. There were 411 Diet members eligible to vote, with 409 actually voting, of which 3 votes were invalid.
Prior to the actual election, each candidate spoke for around 15 minutes regarding his political philosophy and policy vision, and called for the support of the assembled Diet members. Following this, DPJ Diet members cast their votes, and the final election result, including the results of the already counted postal votes by party members, supporters and local assembly members was announced by Central President’s Election Administration Chair Tadamasa Kodaira, and approved.
The newly elected President said, “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Japanese people. Japan is facing a tough situation. I will restore Japan’s vitality once again. I must stake my life on this. The election is over and so we should unite as one team. I want to create a party organization in which all Diet members can use their strength to the full. I ask all Diet members for their cooperation.”
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