Ozawa considers whether to run in Sept. DPJ presidential election

KARUIZAWA, Japan, Aug. 19 Kyodo -
Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa is considering whether he will
run in the ruling party's presidential election next month, sources close to
him said Thursday.
Ozawa, known for being critical of how the government is run by current DPJ
president and Prime Minister Naoto Kan, joined a seminar held by an intraparty
group led by former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in Karuizawa, Nagano
Prefecture, in a move that added to factional maneuvering within the party
ahead of the Sept. 14 election.
Ozawa asked the participants of the seminar to ''join forces and try to live up
to the people's expectations.'' He did not mention the presidential election or
his possible candidacy.
Ozawa, a former DPJ secretary general who stepped down in June over a funding
scandal, will make his decision on whether to run in the upcoming election
possibly next week, the sources said.
Hatoyama said earlier in the day at the seminar, ''It is important for us to
return to our original intent and open the way to the future by giving up
self-interest in the name of party unity.''
Some 100 DPJ lawmakers, including both the Hatoyama group and those close to
Ozawa, attended the meeting held at a hotel in the resort town.
Hatoyama has expressed his intention to support Kan, but indicated his
reelection as DPJ chief must not come in a way that would leave any conflicts
within the party.
While Kan is so far the only declared candidate for the election, campaigning
for which will start Sept. 1, there is growing speculation that some factions
could attempt to block his reelection.
The focus is on whether Ozawa will run for election himself or field a rival
candidate from his own group, the biggest within the party, or through
cooperation with other factions.
Ozawa has criticized Kan for considering dropping some of the DPJ's policy
pledges that helped the party take power in last year's general election by
citing the country's tight budgetary conditions, the sources said. Hatoyama and
Ozawa were heading the party when it scored the historic victory in the House
of Representatives election.
But there remains uncertainty over whether Ozawa, a former DPJ president, could
return to the helm of the party given stiff opposition from anti-Ozawa factions
arguing that Ozawa should keep quiet after the funding scandal involving his
former secretaries.
An independent judicial panel has called for resuming investigation by
prosecutors into whether Ozawa should be held responsible for fund-reporting
irregularities.
==Kyodo