Japan’s ruling Democratic Party on Tuesday decided to expel its former party leader Ichiro Ozawa and 36 other Lower House members, who submitted their resignations to protest the government's plan to raise Japan's consumption tax. This came after Japan’s Lower House voted for a bill last week to double the nation’s sales tax by October 2015. 57 DPJ lawmakers voted against the bill, including former party leader Ozawa, who heads the DPJ’s largest faction and led the party to take power in Japan in 2009. This development has sparked a division within the DPJ.

At a meeting on Tuesday, DPJ executives decided to impose the heaviest possible penalty on 37 lawmakers, including Ozawa, in addition to accepting their resignations. The party suspended 19 other members who also voted against the bill but did not submit resignations. Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was suspended for six months, and 18 others were suspended for two months.