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1st LD Writethru: Japan's lower house speaker to resign due to health reasons

Xinhua, April 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Nobutaka Machimura, speaker of Japan ' s lower house, conveyed Monday his willingness to resign from his post to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) due to healthy reasons, according to Japan's NHK.

Machimura was absent from the lower house sessions recently and was hospitalized on April 15.

Machimura was quoted that the result of his diagnosis showed that he needs a long-term treatment and the situation makes him difficult to fulfill his duty as the speaker of the lower house.

The speaker is expected to file his resignation letter to his deputy Monday afternoon and announce his decision in a press conference later the day.

Machimura took the post in December in 2014 and was served as the country's chief cabinet secretary and foreign minister.

The LDP and its small ruling partner the Komeito Party will discuss Machimura's successor on Tuesday, according to local reports. Endi