Photo/Illutration Seiko Hashimoto, the new chief of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, talks to reporters after meeting with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, on the morning of Feb. 19. (Yuichi Nobira)

Seiko Hashimoto resigned from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Feb. 19 after opposition lawmakers demanded she remain “politically neutral” as the new president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee.

Earlier that day, Hashimoto, an Upper House member, told reporters that she would not leave the party. But she changed her mind and submitted her resignation to LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai after opposition party lawmakers raised concerns.

“If she, as the Olympic chief, puts up a poster of a candidate and herself together, she is taking advantage politically,” Jun Azumi, chairman of the Diet Affairs Committee of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said.

Hashimoto had previously said, “I will try to take appropriate actions based on the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Charter without arousing any suspicions.”

She also stepped down as state minister of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics on Feb. 18 before she was officially picked to replace Yoshiro Mori, who resigned as Olympic committee chief amid an international uproar over his sexist remarks.

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