DPJ launches new leadership under Hatoyama

TOKYO, May 19 Kyodo -
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan formally launched its new
leadership Tuesday under President Yukio Hatoyama, with his scandal-tainted
predecessor Ichiro Ozawa holding a key post in charge of election strategy, a
choice that drew fire from the ruling bloc.
Tasked with regaining public confidence before the House of Representatives
election, which must be held by October, Hatoyama, 62, vowed afresh to strive
to wrest power from the ruling bloc of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New
Komeito party.
''I will seek to lead (the DPJ) to gain a majority of votes in the lower house
election, or make it the largest party (in the chamber) at least,'' he said at
his first regular press conference at the party's headquarters.
On Tuesday, the LDP and DPJ agreed to hold what would be the first one-to-one
debate between Hatoyama and Prime Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as LDP
president, in parliament on May 27.
''The Aso administration is under public criticism over its pork-barrel
spending and bureaucracy-controlled policymaking, and I want to engage in a
policy debate as a representative of the public,'' he said.
Hatoyama's team is joined by Katsuya Okada, 55, who was defeated by Hatoyama in
Saturday's leadership race, as secretary general, as well as Yoshihiko Noda,
51, as acting secretary general.
Naoto Kan, 62, and Azuma Koshiishi, 73, are staying on as acting presidents.
Okada and Kan are both former party leaders, while Koshiishi heads the DPJ
caucus in the House of Councillors.
The new DPJ leadership immediately faced criticism from members of Aso's
Cabinet, particularly over Hatoyama's strong association with Ozawa, 66, who
offered his resignation over a political funds scandal last week.
Hatoyama is ''nothing but a puppet of former leader Ichiro Ozawa,'' said
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama, younger brother of
the new opposition leader. The minister also blasted the DPJ's procedures for
selecting new executives, saying they were ''undemocratic.''
Akira Amari, minister in charge of administrative reforms, sarcastically said
Ozawa earned himself an ''ideal'' position in which he could maintain power but
be exempted from being held accountable.
Ozawa's secretary was indicted in March for receiving 35 million yen in
donations from Nishimatsu Construction Co. in violation of the political funds
control law.
Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko said he
believes the DPJ's decision to appoint Ozawa as an acting president was a
''failure'' as people would complain about the former leader not giving a full
account of the scandal.
At the press conference, Hatoyama said he expects Ozawa will explain about the
scandal when he travels all over the country as an election campaigner.
But Ozawa is expected to face a fresh firestorm as the DPJ decided that he will
not meet the press on a regular basis as acting president, effectively
stripping the media of opportunities to directly pursue his accountability.
Seiko Noda, minister in charge of consumer affairs, said she is disappointed at
seeing familiar faces in the DPJ leadership. ''As a rival, I regret a little
finding no new faces among the executives.''
==Kyodo