LDP chief vows to fight Hatoyama, DPJ over money scandals+

TOKYO, Jan. 24 Kyodo -
Liberal Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki pledged Sunday to take on
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government and his Democratic Party of Japan
over money scandals, saying the LDP will fight against DPJ Secretary General
Ichiro Ozawa's ''dictatorship.''

Speaking at the LDP's first party convention since its fall from power last
year, Tanigaki and other party lawmakers also expressed their resolve to
reinvigorate their once-dominant party and win the House of Councillors
election this summer.
The annual convention, held at a Tokyo hotel, came in the wake of prosecutors'
questioning the previous day of Ozawa -- widely seen as the real power in the
DPJ -- about alleged political fund report irregularities over which his former
and current aides have been arrested.
''It is truly unprecedented and bizarre that the DPJ's top two leaders have
been embroiled in scandals over political funds,'' Tanigaki said in an address,
adding that his party will keep questioning whether it is appropriate for them
to be in charge of the government.
Late last year, two of Hatoyama's former secretaries were indicted without
arrest on a charge of falsifying fund reports by failing to declare money he
received from his mother and instead logging the amounts as donations from
fictitious donors.
Tanigaki, a former finance minister who took the LDP's top post in late
September, also vowed to make efforts to put pressure on Hatoyama to dissolve
the more powerful House of Representatives and call a general election.
''We will discharge our duty as an opposition party to criticize the government
and will realize our own government as soon as possible,'' Tanigaki said.
The LDP, now the main opposition party, led Japan almost without a break for
more than half a century until its historic defeat by the DPJ in the lower
house election last August.
At the convention, the LDP approved a major revision to its constitution,
deleting from it a pledge to seek a ''small government'' that the party had
upheld since 1995. It removed the goal on the grounds that it conjures up the
image of the negative aspects of market fundamentalism such as social
disparities.
Instead, the party chose to pursue a ''government that implements policies fair
to all people,'' while naming revision of the nation's Constitution and
international contributions as its basic policies. It also placed emphasis on
fiscal reconstruction.
As its target for 2010, the party made clear its determination to become the
largest force in the upper house by winning the election for the chamber, to be
held possibly in July if the current Diet session is not extended.
Hatoyama's DPJ holds a small majority in the upper house with the help of its
two minor coalition allies.
''The upper house election will be a true battle on which we will bet the
future of our country and people,'' LDP Secretary General Tadamori Oshima said
at the convention.
''Let's appeal to the public and steadily expand our party force by uniting the
hearts of every party member and friend with a view to winning back power in a
future general election,'' Oshima said.
While the LDP hopes to prevent the DPJ from capturing a majority in the upper
house on its own, observers say the opposition party may even have a hard time
keeping the number of seats it currently holds due to its attenuated voter
support.
The serious tone of the convention was lightened when former professional
baseball player Katsuya Nomura, who managed the Rakuten Eagles until last
season, gave a short talk as a guest speaker, drawing laughter.
''There is good enough reason to lose when you lose, after all,'' the legendary
skipper and catcher said, referring to the LDP's resounding defeat in the last
general election.
''As is the case with our world of (sports) games, you reflect on yourself when
you lose but you don't when you win,'' said Nomura, who has earned the nickname
''renewal factory'' for revitalizing Rakuten and several other underdog teams.
''That's probably where your pitfall was.''
In what may be a sign of the changing fortunes of the once-dominant party,
Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, the nation's most
influential business lobby, was absent from the convention.
Mitarai, from Canon Inc., had taken part in the LDP party convention every year
since he became chairman of the lobby, better known as Nippon Keidanren, in
2006. Although he was offered an invitation, he could not make it this year
because of an overseas business trip, according to the LDP.
==Kyodo
2010-01-24 22:15:06