DPJ preparing for Ozawa`s Diet testimony over funding problems

TOKYO, Dec. 15 Kyodo -
Democratic Party of Japan executives are preparing to have Ichiro Ozawa, a
power broker in the ruling party, testify at a parliamentary ethics panel
concerning allegations of financial misconduct involving his political body,
DPJ sources said Wednesday.
Preparations are under way even though Ozawa, who was leader of the DPJ before
it swept to power in September 2009, continues to resist calls to appear before
the House of Representatives ethics panel to explain the allegations for which
he faces indictment.
The party leadership ordered Ryuichi Doi, a DPJ lawmaker who heads the panel,
to make preparations for Ozawa's testimony, the sources said.
The order was given after Ozawa earlier in the day expressed his intention not
to testify at the panel, calling demands from within the DPJ for him to do so
''unreasonable.''
''My own party is demanding that I appear (before the panel) as though it was
prompted by squabbling within the party, even when opposition parties are not
calling for my appearance,'' Ozawa told a political seminar organized by him at
a Tokyo hotel, according to one of the attendees.
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada is planning to put to a vote a decision on
summoning Ozawa to the panel by the end of this year if he formally refuses to
testify, according to the sources.
Ozawa has not responded to Okada's call to hold talks over the matter.
But even if the panel votes to hold a hearing for Ozawa, the decision will be
nonbinding and it will still be up to him whether to attend.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who is also DPJ leader, told reporters in the evening
that it would be better for Ozawa and the DPJ if he could voluntarily explain
the allegations in parliament.
Some DPJ executives close to Kan say they will not rule out the possibility of
penalizing Ozawa if he continues to ignore requests to explain the allegations
to parliament.
Depending on Ozawa's behavior, they say, he could even be asked to leave the
DPJ, with conflicts in the DPJ between lawmakers backing the leadership and
those close to Ozawa intensifying.
During the seminar, Ozawa is also said to have stated, ''It's not that I refuse
(to testify) but Diet proceedings and the lives of the people will not get any
better because of it.''
''The matter will be eventually decided in a court of law so in the meantime I
want to work for the betterment of people's lives,'' Ozawa said, expressing his
desire to continue his political activities.
Ozawa faces mandatory indictment in the near future after a judicial panel
concluded in September that he warrants prosecution for his alleged role in the
political body's falsification of a financial report.
The panel, formed by randomly picked citizens, was in charge of reviewing an
earlier decision by prosecutors not to charge him over the case. Ozawa has said
he has done nothing wrong and will prove his innocence in court.
Ozawa, who heads the biggest intraparty group, lost to Kan in the DPJ's
presidential election in September.
==Kyodo