Bunmei Ibuki, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight who served as speaker of the House of Representatives, said Monday he will retire from politics and will not run for the next lower house election to be held by this fall.The 83-year-old, who has been elected 12 times to the powerful chamber, cited his age as the reason for his retirement, saying at a press conference in Kyoto, "I may not be able to fulfill my responsibility with full confidence."The veteran lawmaker represents the western Japan prefecture's No. 1 district. He was first elected to the lower house in 1983 after serv…READ FULL ARTICLE
