Over 70% want Ozawa to resign, Cabinet disapproval rate at 45%: poll+

TOKYO, Feb. 6 Kyodo -
More than 70 percent of people surveyed believed that Ichiro Ozawa should
resign as secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan over a
funding scandal despite the fact he has not been indicted, the latest
nationwide telephone poll by Kyodo News showed Saturday.
The disapproval rate for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama,
meanwhile, edged up to 45.1 percent, staying above the approval rate for the
second consecutive poll, according to the survey conducted Friday and Saturday.
It showed 72.7 percent of respondents think Ozawa, widely considered as the
real power in the DPJ, should step down from the party's No. 2 post over a
scandal involving a land purchase by his funds management body, and that 87.2
percent do not accept his claim that he has never taken any illicit funds from
companies.
The ratio of those who said they are not satisfied with Hatoyama's response to
the funding scandal reached 78 percent. Hatoyama, president of the DPJ, has
backed Ozawa without seeking his resignation.
The Cabinet approval rate was little changed at 41.4 percent in the latest
poll. In the previous telephone poll conducted by Kyodo on Jan. 17-18, the
Cabinet disapproval rate surpassed the approval rate for the first time at 44.1
percent to 41.5 percent.
The biggest reason for disapproval of the Cabinet was the lack of leadership by
Hatoyama, with 26.9 percent citing it.
Ozawa said Thursday he will remain in the post despite the indictment earlier
that day of two former aides and one current secretary over alleged
falsifications of annual reports for Ozawa's funds management body in
connection with the 2004 land purchase in Tokyo.
The prosecutors decided not to indict Ozawa himself over the case, citing
insufficient evidence showing his involvement in the report falsifications.
The poll showed that 22.8 percent think Ozawa should be allowed to continue
serving in the party executive post and only 7.9 percent were convinced by
Ozawa's claim that he has never received illicit funds.
According to the survey, 51.3 percent said they have a negative view of the way
the prosecutors handled the year-long investigation into people close to Ozawa,
topping 45.0 percent who had a positive view.
The former figure apparently includes both those who are critical of the
prosecutors' method of conducting the investigations as well as those who are
dissatisfied with their decision not to indict Ozawa.
As for Ozawa's former aide and House of Representatives lawmaker Tomohiro
Ishikawa, who is among the three people indicted on a charge of violating the
Political Funds Control Law, 69.1 percent said he should resign as a lawmaker
while 21.8 percent said he does not need to do so.
The Liberal Democratic Party and other opposition parties jointly submitted a
draft resolution calling for Ishikawa's resignation as a Diet member following
the indictment. Such a resolution, even if passed by the Diet, would not be
legally binding.
The survey showed 45.5 percent think Hatoyama should step down as prime
minister if he fails to settle the issue of the relocation of the U.S. Marine
Corps' Futemma air station in Okinawa by the end of May as stated by him, while
45 percent said he does not need to do so.
According to the poll, the ratio of those who supported the DPJ came to 33.6
percent, up 1.5 percentage point from the previous survey, while 22.8 percent,
up 0.1 point, backed the main opposition LDP.
Other than the two main parties, the support rate stood at 3.9 percent for Your
Party, 3.7 percent for the New Komeito Party, 2.3 percent for the Japanese
Communist Party and 1.9 percent for the Social Democratic Party.
The poll showed the difference in the support rate for the DPJ and LDP in the
proportional representation blocks of the House of Councillors election this
summer has widened, with 33.6 percent, up 5.2 points, saying they will vote for
the DPJ while 23.4 percent, down 1.3 point, said they will vote for the LDP.
==Kyodo