Ozawa to challenge Kan in DPJ leadership election+

TOKYO, Aug. 31 Kyodo -
Democratic Party of Japan heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa said Tuesday he will go
ahead with his plan to challenge Prime Minister Naoto Kan in the ruling party's
presidential election, despite last-minute attempts by some senior lawmakers to
defuse the power struggle between them.
''We will each try our best in a fair manner,'' Ozawa told reporters shortly
after holding talks with Kan at the DPJ's headquarters.
Kan and Ozawa said separately, however, that they had agreed not to damage
party unity whoever wins the Sept. 14 election, which will effectively
determine whether the prime minister can remain in office.
Kan, who doubles as DPJ president, also formally announced his candidacy for
the election, for which official campaigning will begin Wednesday.
''This contest is an election to pick Japan's next premier, rather than the
leader of the DPJ,'' Kan, who assumed office three months ago, said at a news
conference.
''I hope that people will express their views across the country on which
candidate should be prime minister and relay them to members and supporters of
the party, or DPJ assembly members and parliamentarians'' who are all eligible
to vote in the election, Kan said.
Kan restated his pledge to revitalize Japan by boosting the economy, restoring
state finances and improving the social security system.
The 63-year-old premier said one of the issues that needs to be discussed in
the leadership race is what to do with the current consumption tax in
conjunction with increasing social welfare costs.
He also took a swipe at Ozawa, saying, ''I don't want Japanese politics to get
into a mess or be afflicted by money scandals any longer.''
Ozawa played a central role in the DPJ's historic rise to power last year but
resigned as secretary general in June in the wake of political funds scandals.
The 68-year-old said he will organize a news conference on Wednesday to explain
how he wants to run the party and the country.
Ozawa has blamed Kan's comments suggesting a possible hike in the consumption
tax for causing the DPJ's serious setback in the upper house election in July.
While Kan has expressed his intention to review some of the promises that the
DPJ made before the lower house election a year ago due to budgetary
constraints, Ozawa has shown determination to leave the promises as they are,
which include monthly allowances for each child of junior high school age or
younger.
Kan and Ozawa met earlier in the day in an attempt to avoid an internal power
struggle in the DPJ and a policy vacuum at a time when the Japanese economy is
showing signs of slowing down and a recent surge of the yen is harming
exporters.
The meeting was arranged after Kan and his predecessor Yukio Hatoyama, who has
been acting as a mediator between the two camps, agreed Monday that the DPJ
should achieve unity by working closely with Ozawa.
Kan and Ozawa met face to face for the first time since the DPJ's defeat in the
House of Councillors election on July 11.
Some DPJ lawmakers believed a compromise could be found between the two camps
if Kan promised to replace lawmakers in the Cabinet and the party's leadership
who are known to oppose Ozawa's way of conducting politics.
But the reconciliation efforts did not succeed. Kan said he did not discuss
anything related to who should assume senior posts during the meeting with
Ozawa, often dubbed ''the shadow shogun'' of Japanese politics.
Ozawa, who leads the biggest intraparty group, is focusing on securing votes
through major organizations affiliated with the DPJ and through his personal
ties, while Kan is likely to place more emphasis on appealing to rank-and-file
party supporters and the general public.
Hatoyama, who heads the second-largest intraparty group, said he will back
Ozawa in the election. He will advise Ozawa's election campaign headquarters,
according to DPJ lawmakers.
Opinions polls released recently by major media outlets have shown that the
vast majority of voters prefer Kan over Ozawa for prime minister, possibly
because the public has become weary of seeing a rapid succession of Japanese
premiers.
Kan's government was formed on June 8 after both Hatoyama and Ozawa stepped
down from their respective posts amid a sharp fall in public support ratings.
Since Junichiro Koizumi's rare five years in office ended in September 2006,
Japan has had another five prime ministers.
==Kyodo
2010-08-31 23:42:42


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