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© Japan Today/AFPOzawa decides not to leave DPJ for the time being
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tmarie
Noda, kick him out!! So tired of Ozawa being a self serving jerk who tries to grab power whenever he thinks he finally has a chance at being leader. He's a snake. A lying, thieving snake.
Yubaru
I wonder how many other people in Japan think that Ozawa is just like that stuck up little girl down the block that everybody hated because her daddy owned the biggest business in town and got what ever she wanted.
sillygirl
can someone please shove him under a rock where he belongs. i am so tired of hearing about him, hearing him and seeing that smug cockroach face.
Graham DeShazo
I agree w/ tmarie, give him the ax. He did this for nobody but himself regardless of what he says.
vctokyo
basically these 40 people have no opinion for themselves. The same 40 would follow Ozawa off a bridge. Jpolitics, such a joke.
Probie
Hahahahahaha! Well, I guess he has a point; and he is an expert on lying after all...
buggerlugs
I bet noddy noda is stomping around his house this morning screaming "but he promised!! He promised to leave!!"
Serrano
Hey, at least Ozawa is against doubling the consumption tax. Look at all the other idiots in the DPJ and the LDP who want to double it.
2020hindsights
He has finally lost his last platform to sound off. Of course he won't go away and form a new party. A new party needs to be elected into power. He has gambled and he has lost.
And I'm pretty sure that dealing withe the tsunami effects wasn't in the manifesto, but they did it just the same.
alliswellinjapan
In my view he is beginning to resemble Takamori Saigo of the 19th century, loosely portrayed as the last samurai in the Tom Cruise movie, someone who played a key role in overturning the Tokugawa shogunate rule before deciding to rebel against the Meiji government and fight to his end. Ozawa may well be the last samurai representing the traditional ways of Japan politics. Inevitable circumstances leading to his eventual rebellion seem similar. Interested to see if the outcome will be also similar knowing he has always seemed to successfully maneuver challenging situations thusfar.
Stuart hayward
Again everyone's comment are (soo one sided )at least the first six. You all act as if Noda doesn't lie either, (All politician's lie) once you become one, you become compromised. If you don't follow the herd, will become the (black sheep)! No one needs a 10% tax increase, unless the money (really goes where it should)! I will bet (large money) that in one years time, this money will be squandered! Go ahead and keep believing that your (favorite politician) can do no wrong. If you (write down) all there promises they make, and check them one year from now, maybe you can learn. We need to hold politician accountable for their actions!!!
smithinjapan
What was this guy's main opposition to the tax law -- that it was breaking a promise the DPJ made to get into power. Now, how many times has this guy broken his promise to leave the party if he didn't get his way?
The only reason he's staying that I can see is that he knows an election is not far off anyway, and he wants the DPJ reigns of power. Leaving now, of course, would make that impossible. That, or he's keeping his little trump card for the next time he wants something.
In any case, no surprise.
Okinawamike
He has been doing a little reading I guess.
“No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are. Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.”
SushiSake3
tmarie - "Noda, kick him out!! So tired of Ozawa being a self serving jerk who tries to grab power whenever he thinks he finally has a chance at being leader. He's a snake. A lying, thieving snake."
He's also the person who virtually single-handedly brought the DPJ into power for the first time in nearly half a century. This might not even be news if Ozawa hadn't been instrumental in putting the DPJ into power.
Pl. don't forget that.
Yubaru
Actually he is not against raising the consumption tax at all. His opinion is that before the tax is raised other measures should be taken to bring down spending and also guaranteeing the welfare state iirc.
alliswellinjapan
It is probably only a question of timing for him to make his move. It is important to note however that both Ozawa and the DPJ are similarly in a very weak position when it comes to the next election. This internal conflict is not something that either party would have desired but inevitable nonetheless. The sole hope lies in the fact that the LDP is not necessarily being highly regarded either.
rickyvee
the first sentence makes absolutely no sense.
ozawa knows that his only chance of becoming PM rests with the DPJ. that has been his goal since he split from the LDP to form the party. at this point, i would actually prefer ozawa as the PM. his populist agenda was wildly popluar and benefitted the working class.
YankeeX
what a useless coward!
Tom Webb
DPJ party bosses NEED to throw out Ozawa and his followers out of the party. Ozawa will NEVER be the PM. Watching the comic show put on by Ozawa from the shores of USA, we can never be disappointed by his monkey business and entertainment that goes with it. Unfortunately for the people of Japan, his self-serving show, like that of Hatoyama, will cause the demise of Japan as a serious world player.
peanut666
Ichiro Ozawa is a great man, protecting consumers from the excessive consumption tax hike.
alliswellinjapan
I agree with some here that Ozawa has very little if any chance of becoming PM and believe he himself is also aware of that. What he has been most successful at doing thusfar has been to provide effective support to someone else (typically someone harmless) to become PM through his tactical maneuvers behind the scenes in forming a coallition to overthrow the existing rule and I believe he is seeking to do the same again. DPJ while taking the form of a single party was essentially a coallition of politicians with very different values and principles who merely gathered under the sole objective of winning over the LDP. Hatoyama was certainly one of the figures Ozawa supported, as with Hosokawa and Hata, and some may refer to them as "puppets". One can clearly see Hatoyama coming under full control of Ozawa since he became PM. These puppets had good chemistry with Ozawa mainly because they were harmless and did not have any enemies (thus easier to enable a coallition). The problem I see today with Ozawa's "puppet control" tactics is that the current political situation may be more difficult for him to seize control over as compared to before due to the weakening of his own individual powers (possible difficulty even in his own election) and the rise of independent politicians who simply may not need his support to win over existing rule. Having said that I also believe he is smart enough to be fully aware of all this (including the realistic assessment of his own situation) and would be curious to see how he maneuvers this time round.
spiddygy
It's funny how the whole issue is focused on Ozawa for his character. The Big Issue here is the Tax Hike. They say Taxes here are so low compared to many developed nations, but the truth is they have so much more unaccounted for. Like when you pay the same tax more than once. They have money to squander on projects like building a Ramen Museum, amid the Tohoku Disaster, yet not enough for reconstruction. They have money to find whale Hunting projects but not for reconstruction. The Pension system has nothing to do with the tax, people pay, and are losing hope when the money just disappears. Ozawa does make sense, besides his Political scandals. Living expenses in Japan are so high, and will rocket up with more taxes. More taxes means rocketing domestic prices for Goods. For an export oriented country it will be so hard for it to compete with other emerging manufacturers. Where taxes go up and salaries don't change, what would one expect? Less spending, sluggish economy, low consumption. For every action, there is always an equal reaction. If the force is too large, it will only derail the flimsy economy from it's recovery, producing pessimists, and killing the initial goal. End corruption and allocate the funds appropriately, and the issue of pension won't be a problem in the future.........
Disillusioned
As much as I agree that Ozawa is a criminal I do agree with his stance on increasing sales tax. It is not going to help the economy at all, in fact, it will hurt the economy by decreasing spending. They should be lowering the consumption tax to promote spending.
2020hindsights
Japan will become like Greece if it doesn't pay off it's MASSIVE debt. This tax is required for that. By arguing that inefficiencies should be eliminated first isn't an argument. Of course, inefficiencies should be eliminated always. But the tax is necessary regardless of such arguments.
2020hindsights
I agree. We have seen that before. But the situation is dire. Japan NEEDS to address the MASSIVE DEBT problem it has. Sure there will be a drop in spending and that is regrettable. Inaction, however, is inexcusable.
nath
Big chicken.
sf2k
The man who wouldn't leave
JaneM
Japan is an expensive country to live in and the increased consumption tax will make it even more so.
However, this increase should be accompanied with a decrease of the corporate taxes (among the highest in the world) and a stable energy supply so that companies are encouraged to keep their operations in Japan and provide jobs here in the country.
It is also necessary to stimulate women to work full time and contribute to the economy in other ways, in addition to raising their children.
However, the so much discussed manifesto of DPJ did not include any of the above points. Their manifesto only went for what was sure to garner support from a public tired of the self-indulging LDP. Public funds were thin even before the elections – something which a few members of DPJ recently acknowledged they did know about before the elections. With 3/11 the country faced an even graver situation.
Waste of public funds must be stopped but this is not the only solution as increasing the consumption tax isn’t the sole solution either.
Because isn’t it a waste to not provide stable jobs for young people (companies are leaving Japan) and to “keep” (maybe not the best choice of words, sorry) intelligent capable women at home after they have raised their children?
We need to consider the situation from many different points. And yes, Ozawa did bring his party into power but it doesn’t seem to have been such a Herculean task with all the gaffes and self-indulgence of LDP.
CrazyJoe
Ozawa the Teflon Don.
alliswellinjapan
As much as we should ideally be focusing on the tax hike vs administrative cost cut debate vs economy stimulus etc, in reality much (if not all) of the attention in the coming days will inevitably be on politics only. All eyes will be on the degree of penalties Noda eventually plans to impose on those who voted against the bill and if and when Ozawa decides to make his move. It seems Noda is prepared to accept any consequences for him and his party (ie possible non-confidence vote) so long as the bill makes it through upper-house controlled by the LDP (to the extent that he may be prepared to ultimately hand everything over to the LDP). It is this degree of preparedness on the part of Noda which is triggering an otherwise unwelcomed situation on the part of Ozawa who will thus have little choice but to voluntarily or be forcefully pushed out of the DPJ.
illsayit
I agree with allswellinjapan. I also think individual powers will need Ozawa. I also think that think tank Japan (if there is such a thing) is brillant. Europe, eat your heart out! Also I thought Ozawa was for increasing spending. And another thing for those who keep bringing up talk about on the ground Tohoku, let me just say you obviously arent there, and are making yourself look silly, you need better informing. But if you want to be sympathetic, you could pray for all the evacuees to be able to overcome their grief, and see a future is there for the taking, and the support is ready to be tapped, but now is the time to overcome grief, and self-inflicting grievances to be dealt with.
illsayit
Another thing Japan is not expensive to live in, but with this tax it will become very difficult to keep Japan above board. Also the so-called debt is not housekeeping bookstyle, keep flashing the debt and Japn may just keep upping it!(if there is no sales tax that is)
bajhista65
Ozawa decided not to leave for the time being.....
Why can't politicians be truthful to their words. If they say they will leave the party, by all means leave. What the heck is this Osawa.... the new consumption tax bill passed in the lower house. What are you waiting for Ozawa. Leave DPJ and have a word of honor rather than lying to the public big time. Let's see if your cohorts who voted against tax consumption with you will follow and leave too. Har...har...har..
HollisBrown
I will celebrate the day this slimy cockroach is no longer involved in politics.
Dennis Bauer
Ah, an politician never does as he promised.
J-Boh
I'm with 2020hindsights. Of course raising the tax will be negative for the economy, but it has to be done anyway as a step towards reining in Japan's spiralling public debt. Cutting government spending further (also negative for the economy) will be necessary as well.
I also note that Noda didn't break any pledges by putting this tax up. Ozawa's gripe is that raising the tax wasn't mentioned in the manifesto (but neither was not raising it). To call that a betrayal is pushing it.
illsayit
j-boh, which boat did you get off? The issue is not between Noda and Ozawa, their party did state at the election not to raise the taxes. Raising taxes would only encourage further govt wasteful spending. The public debt is not spiralling, and is reigned. Or was that recent contribution to Greece play-money? An unstable Japan would be not good for anybody, and that tax would be a final straw. Encourage more spending and the tax could be twigged with slightly, but now, definitely not. Personally, I can take the strain, (Im used to being tight) but most households will tighten their purse strings, and this is not what is needed.
nath
Ozawa has not changed his opinions at all on the consumption tax. Noda pledged not to raise it if he became PM. Look how fast he changed.
These fat rich people do not compare about common people. The tax will not hurt them.
nath
Politicians....
Serrano
"he would remain a thorn in Noda's side”
The fly in the ointment!
Serrano
The monkey in the wrench. The pain in the ass.
Seiharinokaze
Somehow I like Koshiishi (the gaunt faced Icabod-looking old man). He acts as if he is a second banana for Ozawa rather than the Secretary General of the DPJ. And also Koga, chairman of RENGO (Japan Trade Union Confederation) seems to want to help Ozawa. He even said at the head office of the LDP (of all places!) yesterday that RENGO might change its relationship with the DPJ in view of possible political realignment in near future. In the meantime Osaka mayor Hashimoto said yesterday that he criticizes the DPJ's renege on its manifesto and that he will put up candidates nationwide for the next general election opposing Noda's tax hike. At least Ozawa is quick to see which way the wind will blow.
littlebear
He decided to leave the party this morning, I believe.
Clemens Simon
Yes, the Wall Street Journal confirmed this:
Clemens Simon
Decided just now! 52 defectors.