ID :
108234
Wed, 02/24/2010 - 01:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/108234
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Maehara hoping Ozawa will reach decision about his future by himself
+
TOKYO, Feb. 23 Kyodo -
Transport minister Seiji Maehara indicated Tuesday that he hopes Democratic
Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa will reach ''a decision'' by
himself on how he can best help the party win the House of Councillors election
this summer.
Maehara, a DPJ lawmaker, made the comment despite a plan by Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama, who is also DPJ president, to keep the current DPJ leadership
intact, with Ozawa firmly in charge of election campaign strategies.
''Elections are one of the most important tasks for a secretary general,''
Maehara said at a news conference, commenting on the defeat of a candidate
backed by the DPJ and other ruling parties in the Nagasaki gubernatorial
election on Sunday.
''I think he will make a comprehensive decision about how we can win the upper
house election, as he himself pledged to win it without fail,'' he said.
In the face of remarks like Maehara's emerging from within his own Cabinet,
Hatoyama said later in the day, ''The important thing is for the Cabinet and
the ruling parties, especially the DPJ, to act in unity.''
''It is more important than anything'' for the Cabinet and ruling parties to
get the budget through the Diet in unison to realize the DPJ's initiatives, he
told reporters, adding that he hopes to regain people's trust through policy
implementations.
Ozawa apologized Monday over a funding scandal in which two of his former
secretaries and a current aide have been indicted, including one active
lawmaker, for allegedly misreporting funds at his fund management body.
He admitted that the affair had a negative impact on the outcome of the
gubernatorial election.
Administrative reform minister Yukio Edano, also a DPJ lawmaker who like
Maehara maintains a distance from Ozawa, told a separate news conference
Tuesday that Ozawa probably knows what is needed to regain people's trust in
the DPJ-led government, saying, ''I think he is well aware of it, if he is such
a powerful politician.''
Despite such remarks, it remains unclear whether calls for Ozawa's resignation
from the post of secretary general will grow in the government or the DPJ,
given that Ozawa himself has said Sunday's electoral result would have a
limited impact on the upcoming national election.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, also a DPJ lawmaker, told reporters on
Tuesday that he hopes to win the upper house election so that a more stable
coalition government can be established by the three parties.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party continued boycotting
House of Representatives sessions the same day in protest at the DPJ's refusal
to meet its demand that Ozawa be summoned to the Diet to testify as a sworn
witness.
With the ruling parties set to put the fiscal 2010 budget to a vote in the
lower house plenary session by March 2 to send it to the upper house, the
tussle over voting between the ruling and opposition blocs is likely to
intensify.
DPJ Diet affairs chief Kenji Yamaoka reiterated on Tuesday his intention to
reject opposition calls for Ozawa to appear before the Diet, telling a party
meeting, ''We cannot fulfill our responsibility as the legislature if we keep
doing things not directly related to people's lives.''
Yamaoka and his counterparts from the DPJ's junior coalition partners agreed
the same day to keep running the Diet as scheduled despite the LDP boycott of
parliamentary debate.
As other opposition parties continued to attend parliamentary sessions,
Japanese Communist Party Diet affairs chief Keiji Kokuta criticized the LDP and
said the main opposition party should attend the sessions to air its opinions.
Kokuta said at the same time that the DPJ should comply with the demand that
Ozawa be brought to testify before the Diet, telling a news conference, ''It is
the duty of politics to reveal (facts) if there arises a suspicion.''
Earlier in the day, the LDP confirmed its plan to continue boycotting the
sessions at a meeting of party executives.
But at a different party meeting, LDP Deputy Secretary General Masahiko
Shibayama voiced opposition to the tactics, saying, ''We should engage in
deliberations and squarely voice our opinions.''
LDP policy chief Shigeru Ishiba suggested he will prepare a counterproposal to
the budget now pending in the lower house in the event the LDP returns to
parliamentary debate.
==Kyodo
TOKYO, Feb. 23 Kyodo -
Transport minister Seiji Maehara indicated Tuesday that he hopes Democratic
Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa will reach ''a decision'' by
himself on how he can best help the party win the House of Councillors election
this summer.
Maehara, a DPJ lawmaker, made the comment despite a plan by Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama, who is also DPJ president, to keep the current DPJ leadership
intact, with Ozawa firmly in charge of election campaign strategies.
''Elections are one of the most important tasks for a secretary general,''
Maehara said at a news conference, commenting on the defeat of a candidate
backed by the DPJ and other ruling parties in the Nagasaki gubernatorial
election on Sunday.
''I think he will make a comprehensive decision about how we can win the upper
house election, as he himself pledged to win it without fail,'' he said.
In the face of remarks like Maehara's emerging from within his own Cabinet,
Hatoyama said later in the day, ''The important thing is for the Cabinet and
the ruling parties, especially the DPJ, to act in unity.''
''It is more important than anything'' for the Cabinet and ruling parties to
get the budget through the Diet in unison to realize the DPJ's initiatives, he
told reporters, adding that he hopes to regain people's trust through policy
implementations.
Ozawa apologized Monday over a funding scandal in which two of his former
secretaries and a current aide have been indicted, including one active
lawmaker, for allegedly misreporting funds at his fund management body.
He admitted that the affair had a negative impact on the outcome of the
gubernatorial election.
Administrative reform minister Yukio Edano, also a DPJ lawmaker who like
Maehara maintains a distance from Ozawa, told a separate news conference
Tuesday that Ozawa probably knows what is needed to regain people's trust in
the DPJ-led government, saying, ''I think he is well aware of it, if he is such
a powerful politician.''
Despite such remarks, it remains unclear whether calls for Ozawa's resignation
from the post of secretary general will grow in the government or the DPJ,
given that Ozawa himself has said Sunday's electoral result would have a
limited impact on the upcoming national election.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, also a DPJ lawmaker, told reporters on
Tuesday that he hopes to win the upper house election so that a more stable
coalition government can be established by the three parties.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party continued boycotting
House of Representatives sessions the same day in protest at the DPJ's refusal
to meet its demand that Ozawa be summoned to the Diet to testify as a sworn
witness.
With the ruling parties set to put the fiscal 2010 budget to a vote in the
lower house plenary session by March 2 to send it to the upper house, the
tussle over voting between the ruling and opposition blocs is likely to
intensify.
DPJ Diet affairs chief Kenji Yamaoka reiterated on Tuesday his intention to
reject opposition calls for Ozawa to appear before the Diet, telling a party
meeting, ''We cannot fulfill our responsibility as the legislature if we keep
doing things not directly related to people's lives.''
Yamaoka and his counterparts from the DPJ's junior coalition partners agreed
the same day to keep running the Diet as scheduled despite the LDP boycott of
parliamentary debate.
As other opposition parties continued to attend parliamentary sessions,
Japanese Communist Party Diet affairs chief Keiji Kokuta criticized the LDP and
said the main opposition party should attend the sessions to air its opinions.
Kokuta said at the same time that the DPJ should comply with the demand that
Ozawa be brought to testify before the Diet, telling a news conference, ''It is
the duty of politics to reveal (facts) if there arises a suspicion.''
Earlier in the day, the LDP confirmed its plan to continue boycotting the
sessions at a meeting of party executives.
But at a different party meeting, LDP Deputy Secretary General Masahiko
Shibayama voiced opposition to the tactics, saying, ''We should engage in
deliberations and squarely voice our opinions.''
LDP policy chief Shigeru Ishiba suggested he will prepare a counterproposal to
the budget now pending in the lower house in the event the LDP returns to
parliamentary debate.
==Kyodo
