Japan Press Weekly

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2009 May 13 - 19 [POLITICS]

Appointing Ozawa as acting president, the DPJ follows old-LDP politics

Newly-elected Democratic Party President Hatoyama Yukio on May 18 stated, “We will work to break away from the old political structure of the Liberal Democratic Party and manipulation by bureaucracy and implement people-first politics. But at the same time, he named former LDP President Ozawa Ichiro to be acting president in charge of election campaigns.

“Everyone recognizes Mr. Ozawa’s achievements. We should never underestimate them,” he said.

Ignore Nishimatsu scandal

Ozawa is still taking a so-what attitude toward his alleged acceptance of illegal donations from Nishimatsu Construction Co., stating, “I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

On an NHK program on May 17, Hatoyama defended Ozawa by stating, “I believe that Mr. Ozawa is innocent. He is said to have connections with Nishimatsu, but there are no such connections.”

But, in a poll published in the Asahi Shimbun on May 18, 78 percent of respondents said they are not pleased with Ozawa’s attitude. According to the daily Nikkei Shimbun on the same day, 54 percent said they are opposed to Ozawa’s appointment to a key post in the DPJ.

Ozawa had allegedly accepted corporate donations via political action groups that are formed in name only, in order to evade restrictions under the Political Funds Control Law. Such a practice is part of the traditional LDP-style money politics. As long as Hatoyama does not ask Ozawa to come clean about the allegation, the DPJ leadership will not be able to break away from the old LDP-style of politics endorsing corruption.

Whereas Hatoyama calls for “fraternity” and “people-first policies,” he never mentions the need to ban major corporations’ massive layoffs of temporary workers or drastically revise the “structural reform” policies that began under Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichiro.

Consumption tax increase and constitutional revision

On the other hand, Hatoyama on an NHK program aired on May 17 said that he will not rule out a consumption tax increase after holding two more general elections.

Concerning constitutional revision, he stated, “The Constitution has not been changed for 60 years. This is a major issue,” showing his intention to accept the move of the Deliberative Council on the Constitution in both houses to begin discussion on constitutional revision.

While calling for a change in ruling parties, the DPJ fails to present how its policies differ from those of the LDP.