Ichirō Ozawa
A leadership election was held in the Democratic Party of Japan on 16 May 2009 after the incumbent party leader Ichirō Ozawa announced that he would resign in early May 2009. Ozawa had been expected to lead the DPJ into a possible election victory over the long-time incumbent Liberal Democratic Party later in 2009, but a corruption scandal had forced him to resign in order to save the party's chances.