Kan says he will aim for clean politics free from scandals+

TOKYO, June 3 Kyodo -
Finance Minister Naoto Kan, the front-runner to succeed Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama, said Thursday he will aim to create a political environment free from
money scandals, indicating he would try to run a government with less influence
from the ruling party's scandal-tainted kingpin Ichiro Ozawa.
Kan, a 63-year-old heavyweight of the Democratic Party of Japan who doubles as
deputy prime minister, made the comments as he officially declared his
candidacy for the party's presidential election slated for Friday following
Hatoyama's abrupt announcement of resignation.
He will be challenged by Shinji Tarutoko, 50, a House of Representatives
member, for the job of the party's top leader who will almost certainly become
the next prime minister in line with the DPJ's strength in parliament.
In an attempt to play up his efforts to break from Ozawa, who will leave the
post of secretary general, Kan said Ozawa should ''stay quiet at least for a
while'' for the sake of the nation, claiming he should take responsibility for
causing public distrust due to fundraising scandals.
But Kan also credited Ozawa with helping the party achieve a change of
government in last year's general election.
In a statement released ahead of the press conference, Kan also said that if he
takes over as prime minister, he will make continued efforts to reduce the
burden on Okinawa Prefecture of hosting U.S. military forces, based on the
Japan-U.S. accord reached last week.
While emphasizing that ''the linchpin for Japan's foreign policy is its
alliance with the United States,'' which soured due to a row over a U.S. Marine
base, he also said the relationship with China is important.
Kan, a former DPJ chief, also blamed the previous Liberal Democratic Party-led
governments for causing more than two decades of economic stagnation and a
ballooning public debt, without thrashing out an effective strategy to put the
country back on a growth path.
Kan, who took up the post of finance minister in January to replace Hirohisa
Fujii, is confident that he is capable of reinvigorating the economy by
achieving fiscal consolidation and economic growth focusing on healthcare and
welfare amid the graying of society.
In an apparent bid to woo support, Kan said he is a politician hailing from a
''typically ordinary'' family, unlike Hatoyama or many other lawmakers who are
political bluebloods or from wealthy families.
Earlier, Tarutoko told reporters that he would first push ahead with an
administrative reform if elected, aiming to cut back on the number of lower
house seats by 80 from the current 480.
But Tarutoko presented few specific ideas on major issues such as foreign
policy, social welfare and information disclosure.
==Kyodo