Aso, in 1st face-off in Diet, rejects Ozawa's calls to dissolve Diet

TOKYO, Nov. 28 Kyodo - Prime Minister Taro Aso, in his first parliamentary face-off with opposition
leader Ichiro Ozawa on Friday, rejected a call to dissolve the lower house in
December, saying the government cannot afford a political vacuum in the face of
the global financial turmoil.
Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, noted that Aso's government
has been formed without receiving a public mandate through an election and
should call a general election in December, if the prime minister is not
presenting a pump-priming budget to address the financial crisis, as Aso says.
Aso responded that while he had initially thought that a dissolution of the
House of Representatives is ''one option,'' it is not the time to ''create a
political vacuum when the whole world is struggling to tackle the financial
crisis.''
Highlighting Aso's previous argument for prioritizing economic stimulus
measures rather than holding an election in the wake of the financial crisis,
Ozawa said, ''Why would you not introduce a second supplementary (budget) to
the Diet? No one would understand. It is totally inconsistent in logic with
what has been said.''
Aso explained that the government will submit the budget to the regular session
scheduled to convene in early January after grasping a full picture of the
situation such as the impact of the economic slowdown on tax receipts from
corporations in the current fiscal year.
Aso instead urged Ozawa to promptly hold a vote in the opposition-controlled
House of Councillors on a bill to support the banking sector, which would allow
the government to inject public funds into financial institutions to bolster
their capital bases.
The prime minister said that measures for small and midsize enterprises in the
first supplementary budget are being implemented smoothly and the banking bill
needs to be passed to help lenders faced with depleting capital.
Ozawa said the party will not intentionally delay the Diet deliberation on the
financial bill.
Ozawa also criticized the prime minister for making a series of gaffes, saying,
''A prime minister's words should have more weight.''
Aso responded, ''I have apologized for the remarks which had caused
misunderstanding on some occasions, and I would like to fulfill my duties by
being careful about remarks.''
Some members of the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the
New Komeito party were disappointed by the debate, with a senior New Komeito
member saying, ''The support rate for the ruling parties will never rise'' as
Aso was dragged by Ozawa's pace.
Although LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda praised Aso, saying, ''It was
(Aso's) clear-cut victory,'' New Komeito Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa said,
''I wanted (Aso) to discuss more about themes which the public is interested
in.''
Aso's LDP has repeatedly called for holding a debate between the leaders in
parliament.
While Ozawa had been reluctant to accept the calls, he agreed to hold the
debate, apparently hoping to step up pressure on Aso to dissolve the lower
house amid public criticism of the premier for a series of gaffes and
flip-flops over a government plan for cash benefits to the public.
After the debate, Aso told reporters it had been ''good'' to hold the
parliamentary debate. ''At least, the differences between the two parties as
well as myself and Mr. Ozawa were made clear to the public via television,''
Aso said.
Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, criticized Aso,
saying, ''Prime Minister Taro Aso has not answered to the question 'why (he)
does not submit (the extra budget) to the current Diet session.'''
Fukushima praised Ozawa, saying, ''DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa challenged (Aso)
boldly.''
The debate in the Diet between the leaders of the two parties was the first
since April, when Aso's predecessor Yasuo Fukuda and Ozawa held an intense
discussion over government nominees for Bank of Japan posts. Aso took the post
of prime minister in September.
==Kyodo
2008-11-28 22:34:12