Hatoyama willing to urge Ozawa to give account in Diet over scandal+

TOKYO, Feb. 17 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, in his first parliamentary debate with
opposition leaders on Wednesday, expressed his readiness to urge Democratic
Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa to explain to the Diet the
allegations concerning his political funds.
Hatoyama suggested at the same time that Ozawa does not have to resign from the
party's No. 2 post over his alleged mishandling of the funds by his fund
management body, which has led to the indictment of one current and two former
aides of Ozawa.
The prime minister also expressed his readiness to agree to setting up a
consultative body between the ruling and opposition parties to revise the
Political Funds Control Law to try to prevent fund scandals involving
politicians.
Hatoyama, who is also DPJ president, made the remarks during a one-on-one
exchange with two opposition leaders -- Liberal Democratic Party President
Sadakazu Tanigaki and New Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi -- at a joint meeting
of the Committees on Fundamental National Policies of both houses of
parliament.
During the debate, which was modeled on prime minister's question time in the
British parliament, Tanigaki demanded that Ozawa be summoned to the Diet to
give sworn testimony over the case, but Hatoyama said, ''It is very likely that
I will recommend'' that he give an explanation to the Diet.
Hatoyama is believed to have indicated that Ozawa could give an account of
himself at such venues as the House of Representatives Deliberative Council on
Political Ethics.
He later clarified this point, telling reporters, ''Although you (a reporter)
mentioned summoning (Ozawa) as a sworn witness, I have not necessarily pictured
that from the beginning.''
In the debate, Hatoyama also said Ozawa would fulfill his responsibility by
giving an account of the scandal, saying, ''The important thing is to discharge
his responsibility as a politician by explaining to the people why (his aides)
were indicted or (he) was not indicted.''
On a funding scandal relating to Hatoyama himself, in which his office had
received a total of 1.2 billion yen from his mother over a seven-year period
through 2008, Tanigaki called on Hatoyama to step down as prime minister,
citing tax evasion allegations against him.
''You could be called the king of tax dodgers in the Heisei era, and it's a
tragicomedy that such a person asks people to pay taxes,'' the LDP president
said. Heisei denotes the reign of Emperor Akihito that began in 1989.
Hatoyama, who eventually paid a gift tax of around 600 million yen after the
case came to light last year, once again apologized for the case but refused to
step down, saying that doing his best to create ''new politics'' is one way in
which he can fulfill his responsibility.
He also denied asking his mother for money, as alleged by LDP lawmaker Kaoru
Yosano during a recent session at the lower house Budget Committee.
''That's a total fabrication,'' Hatoyama said of the story Yosano says was
based on an account Hatoyama's brother, LDP lawmaker Kunio Hatoyama, had
provided to the former finance minister. ''Although I visited my mother once or
twice a year, I have never asked for money,'' the prime minister said.
At one point, Hatoyama urged Tanigaki to have donations from corporations and
other organizations banned, but the LDP leader avoided responding to the
overtures, apparently reflecting concerns within the main opposition party that
has long relied on corporate donations.
Tanigaki demanded that one of Hatoyama's two former state-paid secretaries
indicted over the funding irregularities be summoned to the Diet as a sworn
witness along with several others, saying the prime minister has failed to
account for himself.
On the issue of a possible hike in the consumption tax from the current 5
percent, Hatoyama reiterated his pledge not to raise it for four years from the
launch of his government last September, although Finance Minister Naoto Kan
has indicated that the government may soon begin discussing the possibility.
The prime minister criticized Tanigaki and the LDP for causing the government's
tax revenues to drop sharply by failing to implement stimulus measures before
the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008.
New Komeito's Yamaguchi grilled Hatoyama on such issues as the recurring
''politics and money'' scandals and the relocation of a U.S. Marine base in
Okinawa.
Hatoyama reiterated his pledge to come to a final conclusion on where to move
the Marines' Futemma Air Station by the end of May, saying, ''I hope you have
sufficient confidence in me to further solidify Japanese-U.S. relations''
through a resolution of the issue.
Wednesday's debate was the first for the New Komeito leader because the party
had been in the ruling bloc for 10 years until the launch of the DPJ-led
government last September.
The one-on-one debate, which was introduced in the Diet in 2000, was last held
on June 17 between then Prime Minister Taro Aso and Hatoyama, when the DPJ was
still in opposition.
==Kyodo