TOKYO, Sept. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- The largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan will elect a successor to outgoing President Katsuya Okada next Saturday following its setback in Sunday's general election, Kyodo News reported Monday.

    In a meeting, the DPJ executives decided on a date and agreed that all its members in the House of Representatives and House of Councilors will be convened to pick Okada's successor, Kyodo said.

    The DPJ decided to move quickly to pick a new leader as lawmakers in both chambers will elect a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session that is expected to begin Sept. 21.

    Naoto Kan and Yukio Hatoyama, both of whom formerly headed the party, as well as vice DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, are touted as candidates to lead the DPJ.

    But some in the DPJ say the seven-year-old party needs a younger leader to regain the backing of unaffiliated voters, according to Kyodo.

    The DPJ lost a number of seats in urban areas including Tokyo in Sunday's election as nonaligned voters who backed the party in past elections supported Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's dominant Liberal Democratic Party this time.

    The DPJ, which had 177 seats before the election, lost 64 seats, leaving it with 113. Koizumi's LDP won a working majority of 296 in the 480-seat lower chamber.

    Okada on Sunday night announced his intention to step down to take responsibility for the election result. Enditem