DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa

DPJ chief Ozawa to step down amid fundraising scandal

Monday 11th May, 07:20 PM JST

TOKYO —

Main opposition Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa said Monday he will resign to ensure ‘‘party unity’’ which appears to have been shaken prior to the House of Representatives election following the recent indictment of his close aide in a political funds scandal.

‘‘I have decided to step down from the post of DPJ president…to make our party unity stronger so as to realize a regime change,’’ Ozawa told a hastily called press conference, while admitting that his decision also partly reflects some views within the DPJ.

Following Ozawa’s announcement, DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama, who had urged Ozawa to remain as president, also expressed his intention to resign.

Ozawa denied that he will resign as a Diet member or leave the party, and expressed his readiness to run in the next general election.

Ozawa said the party’s election to pick his successor should be held after the lower house completes its deliberations on the fiscal 2009 supplementary budget in the hope of minimizing the impact on the public.

On the party election, Hatoyama said, ‘‘It is desirable to hold it within this week…We should not take a long time.’’ He expects the schedule to be decided at a meeting of DPJ executives Tuesday, he added.

Former DPJ chiefs Katsuya Okada and Naoto Kan have been cited within the party as potential successors to Ozawa.

When the scandal broke in early March, Ozawa said he would stay on as DPJ president, denying any wrongdoing despite criticism that the incident had undermined public trust in politics, while repeatedly suggesting he would resign if his decision to stay on as DPJ leader would have a negative impact on the lower house election.

While apologizing to the public for causing trouble, Ozawa expressed confidence about winning the next general election, saying, ‘‘We cannot win the general election if the party is inconsistent. On the contrary, I am sure that we can certainly win if we build party unity.’‘

Ozawa had been outscoring Prime Minister Taro Aso in popularity ratings until recently and the DPJ was seen as having a good shot at ending the almost unbroken rule of the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Representatives election, enabling Ozawa to replace Aso as prime minister.

Given that Ozawa could potentially become the next Japanese prime minister, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. John McCain, a former U.S. presidential candidate, met with him earlier this year when they visited Tokyo.

Prior to the news conference, Ozawa told party executives and lawmakers close to him, ‘‘It’s better for me to step down in order to change the regime,’’ party lawmakers said.

His secretary, 47-year-old Takanori Okubo, was indicted March 24 for receiving 35 million yen in donations from scandal-tainted Nishimatsu Construction Co in violation of the political funds control law.

Ozawa told the press conference, ‘‘I have nothing to feel guilty about regarding my political funds,’’ emphasizing that he has been reporting his political funds in accordance with the law and is not stepping down to take any responsibility for the matter.

Ozawa had accused prosecutors of being politically motivated and abusing state powers in arresting his secretary.

Aso told reporters after Ozawa’s press conference, ‘‘I believe people did not understand what responsibility Mr. Ozawa intends to take and why (he announced his resignation) at this time.’‘

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said at a press conference, ‘‘It’s true he has faced public censure over his lack of accountability (for the scandal), and I assume he’s decided to step down in the face of such calls.’‘

Kawamura also expressed the view that Ozawa’s resignation was partly aimed at avoiding having to face off with Aso in a parliamentary debate scheduled for Wednesday.

The DPJ’s Hatoyama told reporters that it will be difficult to hold a Diet debate on Wednesday after Ozawa’s resignation announcement.

A native of Iwate Prefecture, the 66-year-old Ozawa won a lower house seat for the first time in December 1969 for the LDP and has been elected 13 times since then.

He held such important posts as home affairs minister from 1985 to 1986 and LDP secretary general, the No. 2 post in the party, from 1989 to 1991.

But Ozawa, along with more than 40 colleagues, left the LDP in June 1993 after infighting mainly over electoral system reform and helped former Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata form a breakaway party, the now-defunct Japan Renewal Party.

Ozawa was instrumental in establishing a coalition government led by Morihiro Hosokawa of the now-defunct Japan New Party in August 1993, which successfully toppled the LDP from nearly four decades of power that year.

He formed the Liberal Party in 1998 as a small party and tied up with the LDP to establish a governing coalition in January 1999.

After leaving the coalition in 2000, Ozawa let his Liberal Party merge with the DPJ in September 2003.

After being elected president of the DPJ in April 2006, Ozawa adopted a party management style based on cooperation and consultation, particularly via a decision-making framework of the so-called ‘‘troika’’ leadership with Acting President Kan and Secretary General Hatoyama.

In the July 2007 House of Councillors election, Ozawa led the party to a landslide victory, beating the ruling coalition of the LDP and the New Komeito party.

Some political pundits had predicted that even if he were to become the next prime minister following victory in the upcoming lower house election, his administration might not last long given his history of heart problems.

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Latest 15 of 25 Total Comments Show All

smithinjapan at 08:47 PM JST - 11th May

Geez... and just before he was set to duke it out in debate with Aso on Wednesday; surprise, surprise.
Den Den at 08:53 PM JST - 11th May

Thats the problem with democracy. You occasionally get to choose(although both Gordan Brown and Aso are exceptions)who will be boss, but only of too lesser evils. When one party drops out, well, you have only one choice.
shanabelle at 08:54 PM JST - 11th May

What took so long...he should have done this 8 weeks ago... he has tarnished Minshuto so much I think a seemingly un-loseable election is again lost!
Triumvere at 09:54 PM JST - 11th May

Finally, now there is a chance at progress.
cadmium at 10:17 PM JST - 11th May

Good timing, perhaps the ban on amakudari hasn't come into effect yet.
Simon_Foston at 10:20 PM JST - 11th May

I don't think the LDP are going to benefit from this that much. To form a government that can actually do anything while the DPJ controls the House of Councillors, the LDP/New Komeito coalition still need to secure the same supermajority that Koizumi achieved in 2005, and I see no reason to believe that Aso and his cronies have the charisma or popularity for that. The DPJ may be a bit useless, but under a "clean" leader they can at least go on the attack against LDP members who are also caught up in the Nishimatsu scandal, and probably ensure that the LDP doesn't get a big enough majority to govern with.
BurakuminDes at 11:28 PM JST - 11th May

C'mon, everyone knows that no-matter who leads the DPJ, they will be whipped by Aso and his team. Japan is a one-party state, effectively the same system as North Korea. It has always been led by the DPJ, save for a tiny blip in the early 90s.
Shumatsu_Samurai at 11:44 PM JST - 11th May

Japan is a one-party state, effectively the same system as North Korea.

Rubbish. There is nothing "effectively the same" about them. Even given that the LDP has been in power for so long, Japan still has spectacularly better rights and governance than North Korea. If opposition parties like the DPJ can't get their act together they have only themselves to blame.

It's not even like in Singapore where the PAP stack things in their favour by suing anyone who says they're wrong, bankrupting them and thus disqualifying them from running.

All in all it's good that Ozawa is going, but it may be too late for the DPJ. Hopefully they will elect a leader that can at least make the party more credible.
medievaltimes at 11:51 PM JST - 11th May

Ozawa is very clever to do this.
ca1ic0cat at 02:32 AM JST - 12th May

The one thing consistent about Japan for the last 20 years has been political scandal. Everything else seems to be changing.

That said, compairing Japan to NK is a bit over the top. I was talking to the dear little pipsqueak just the other day and he was saying that he would love to live it Japan - if they would let him be emperor.

I don't think that's gonna happen!
zurcronium at 03:21 AM JST - 12th May

This is excellent news for democracy in Japan. No one trusts Ozawa but everyone hates the LDP. So now the DPJ can get an Obama in place to upend the corruption that is the LDP reign.

The question is who takes the role.
Simon_Foston at 08:20 AM JST - 12th May

C'mon, everyone knows that no-matter who leads the DPJ, they will be whipped by Aso and his team.

Aso and the LDP could still beat the DPJ, sure, but as I was saying, the question is whether they can win by a wide enough margin to keep the supermajority they need to bypass the opposition majority in the House of Councillors. I think Ozawa's resignation makes that less likely.
Blue_Tiger at 10:55 PM JST - 12th May

So here's my question:

Who are they going to choose?

They tried Okada back in `04 ,and the DPJ lost more seats that year than they ever have to date....

Naoto Kan? He's even more corrupt than Ozawa, if that's possible....

Yukio Hatoyama? Too weak, too much a "Yes man" to Ozawa....

They need a yunger, fresher face. Barring that, they have no chance of winning anything this year. I agree with what someone else said: Ozawa snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by his stubbornness in refusing to resign. The smartest thing Aso could do is immediately dissolve parliament and call for a general election. However, I believe that both the DPJ and the LDP will lose and lose big in another election. I believe the Japan Communist Party will pick up a lot of seats, and the New Komeido could do the same. This whole Ozawa situation and resignation is a lose-lose for Japan.
illsayit at 09:02 AM JST - 13th May

Yeah right lose what. Maybe the public will now realize that government needs money doesnt matter who they are to compete. So who has the most? Or who has the most following?
illsayit at 09:15 AM JST - 13th May

I think Hatoyama has the most influence. I think Okada will be elected for Minshuto.