ID :
20459
Mon, 09/22/2008 - 09:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/20459
The shortlink copeid
DPJ chief Ozawa's reelection formally endorsed at party convention
TOKYO, Sept. 21 Kyodo - Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa's reelection as the party chief was formally endorsed at its convention Sunday, setting the stage for the main opposition party to gear up for a general election that is expected to be held in the coming months.
But Ozawa, 66, is not seeing a smooth start to his new two-year term, with his election strategy already hitting a snag over a failure to merge with a tiny opposition party backed by a key vote-gathering association.
Ozawa was assured of reelection on Sept. 8 as nobody else filed candidacy for
the DPJ presidential election. His new term as president will run through
September 2010.
Ozawa has released his basic policy proposals in announcing his candidacy,
which will serve as the basis for the party's manifesto in the next general
election.
In the proposals, Ozawa said his administration will act on the principle of
putting ''public lives first'' by creating a ''trustworthy pension system'' in
the wake of revelations of mismanagement by the state's pension agency.
He also said he will unify pension programs in a single scheme and use tax
revenues to finance minimum guaranteed amounts of pension payments, establish a
system to ensure stable incomes for farmers and the fishing industry, and
provide child-rearing allowances.
Ozawa has said he will be able to generate the necessary money to realize his
proposals by eliminating wasteful spending. But critics seek clearer
explanations of how such pledges -- requiring at least 17 or 18 trillion yen --
will be funded.
The vagueness over the funding has been attacked by Liberal Democratic Party
lawmakers running in the LDP presidential election to pick a successor to
outgoing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. They have also criticized the discord
often seen in the DPJ over security policies.
No general election needs to be held until the current term of the House of
Representatives members expires in September 2009. But the ruling coalition of
the LDP and New Komeito party is eyeing an early election to take advantage of
high public support for an administration under a newly elected leader.
The election will be a crucial one, with the ruling parties fearing to lose
their overwhelming majority in the lower house and fall from power if they are
defeated by the DPJ-led opposition bloc, which already controls the House of
Councillors.
To step up cooperation among opposition parties, the idea of integrating the
DPJ and the tiny opposition People's New Party recently surfaced. But the two
parties decided to shelve the plan on Friday due to legal complications in
realizing the merger.
==Kyodo
But Ozawa, 66, is not seeing a smooth start to his new two-year term, with his election strategy already hitting a snag over a failure to merge with a tiny opposition party backed by a key vote-gathering association.
Ozawa was assured of reelection on Sept. 8 as nobody else filed candidacy for
the DPJ presidential election. His new term as president will run through
September 2010.
Ozawa has released his basic policy proposals in announcing his candidacy,
which will serve as the basis for the party's manifesto in the next general
election.
In the proposals, Ozawa said his administration will act on the principle of
putting ''public lives first'' by creating a ''trustworthy pension system'' in
the wake of revelations of mismanagement by the state's pension agency.
He also said he will unify pension programs in a single scheme and use tax
revenues to finance minimum guaranteed amounts of pension payments, establish a
system to ensure stable incomes for farmers and the fishing industry, and
provide child-rearing allowances.
Ozawa has said he will be able to generate the necessary money to realize his
proposals by eliminating wasteful spending. But critics seek clearer
explanations of how such pledges -- requiring at least 17 or 18 trillion yen --
will be funded.
The vagueness over the funding has been attacked by Liberal Democratic Party
lawmakers running in the LDP presidential election to pick a successor to
outgoing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. They have also criticized the discord
often seen in the DPJ over security policies.
No general election needs to be held until the current term of the House of
Representatives members expires in September 2009. But the ruling coalition of
the LDP and New Komeito party is eyeing an early election to take advantage of
high public support for an administration under a newly elected leader.
The election will be a crucial one, with the ruling parties fearing to lose
their overwhelming majority in the lower house and fall from power if they are
defeated by the DPJ-led opposition bloc, which already controls the House of
Councillors.
To step up cooperation among opposition parties, the idea of integrating the
DPJ and the tiny opposition People's New Party recently surfaced. But the two
parties decided to shelve the plan on Friday due to legal complications in
realizing the merger.
==Kyodo
