Seiji Maehara, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, was elected as a new leader of the Democratic Party (DP) today.  At the contest, Maehara won 502 points, about 60% of the votes, while his rival candidate Yukio Edano gained 332.  His predecessor, Renho, resigned from the position taking a responsibility of the party's crushing defeat in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in July.  Maeara takes it over with an expectation to reorganize the party to win the by-elections for the House of Representatives in October. For more details, please see an article on NHK World from the link below.