The mayor of Maebashi, the capital city of Gunma prefecture in eastern Japan, on Tuesday tendered her resignation after her repeated hotel visits with a senior city official, assembly members said.
Akira Ogawa had long rejected calls from city assembly members to resign, saying that she did not have an affair with the official, who is married. But she made an about-face on Tuesday, submitting a letter of resignation, effective Thursday, to the chairperson of the city assembly, according to the members.
The city council was due to vote on a no-confidence motion against Ogawa, 42, on Thursday, but its steering committee will discuss what to do following the mayor’s decision.
According to the local election board, a mayoral election must be held within 51 days of it receiving a notification from the chairperson of the assembly.
“I made the decision after thinking about this a lot,” Ogawa said on social media. “I’ve concluded that it’s best to leave the mayorship at this time and take responsibility for my own actions.”
The mayor, who has signalled she will run in a new election if one is called, also asked voters to stand by her in running the city.
AloJapan.com