Hatoyama says he believes Ozawa`s claim of innocence over scandal

TOKYO, Feb. 3 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday he believes Democratic Party of
Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa's claim that he is innocent of accounting
irregularities involving his fund management body.
Amid news reports that Ozawa is unlikely to be indicted over the case, support
grew within the DPJ-led ruling bloc on the same day for allowing the former DPJ
leader to remain in the party's No. 2 post.
Hatoyama said he will watch developments in the prosecutors' investigation into
the case, which he thinks will reveal whether Ozawa had a hand in the alleged
misreporting of political funds.
The prosecutors have questioned Ozawa twice as a suspect in the case but are
now expected to announce Thursday their decision not to indict him due to
insufficient evidence showing any involvement, while planning to indict
lawmaker Tomohiro Ishikawa, his arrested former secretary in charge of
accounting, sources familiar with the case said the same day.
''You ask on what grounds do I believe Ozawa, but isn't it natural for me to
believe first the words 'I'm innocent' expressed by a DPJ comrade who helped to
achieve a change of power?'' Hatoyama said in a House of Councillors plenary
session. ''In my view, the investigation will reveal whether there are facts
that support his (alleged) violation of the law as reported.''
Hatoyama and Ozawa, his immediate predecessor as DPJ president, led the DPJ to
a historic victory over the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the House
of Representatives election last summer.
A key campaign strategist for the upper house election this summer, Ozawa has
denied receiving any illicit funds and said he doubts he will ever be charged,
while indicating he would resign as secretary general if he were indicted.
Asked if he intends to let Ozawa continue in the secretary general post,
Hatoyama said ''I'm not thinking about such a personnel change.''
''At this point, I want Secretary General Ozawa to do his job as a secretary
general,'' he said.
Some high-ranking ruling bloc lawmakers have voiced their support for allowing
Ozawa to remain in his post if he is not indicted, with a senior DPJ lawmaker
saying, ''To have the fiscal 2010 budget clear the Diet by the end of March is
the way for (the ruling coalition) to fulfill its responsibility to the
people.''
''Mr. Ozawa is an indispensable person who is the axis within the
administration,'' he added.
A lawmaker close to Ozawa said his resignation as DPJ secretary general is
''not on the cards at all,'' while a senior member of the Social Democratic
Party, one of the junior partners in the DPJ-led government, said there is ''no
one in the DPJ who can play Ozawa's role.''
But another DPJ lawmaker who has kept his distance from Ozawa questioned
whether he could remain in his post, saying, ''He will not come away uninjured
if his secretary is indicted.''
On Thursday, prosecutors must either release from detention or charge one
current and two former aides to Ozawa, including DPJ House of Representatives
member Ishikawa, who are under arrest over the alleged misreporting of Ozawa's
political funds.
The main opposition LDP and another opposition party, New Komeito, are expected
to propose a resolution to the Diet recommending Ishikawa's resignation as a
lawmaker in the event he is indicted.
Hatoyama said it is basically up to the former Ozawa aide to decide whether to
resign as a Diet member.
On Ishikawa's fate, some lawmakers have floated plans to let him leave the DPJ
or the party's parliamentary grouping on his own to take responsibility, with a
lawmaker who serves in a senior position in the government suggesting the
former option.
SDP deputy chief Seiji Mataichi said Ishikawa should resign as a Diet member if
he is indicted after admitting to the allegations against him.
Meanwhile, senior opposition lawmakers expressed their intention to continue
going after Ozawa in the Diet over the scandal.
Ozawa should ''feel the pain of his political and ethical responsibility,'' LDP
Secretary General Tadamori Oshima told reporters. ''The public thinks Mr.
Ozawa's explanation is insufficient.''
New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said the public will demand that Ozawa
discharge his responsibility to explain the affair more if Ishikawa is
indicted, while a senior Japanese Communist Party lawmaker said parliament must
get to the bottom of the scandal.
==Kyodo