ID :
41353
Sun, 01/18/2009 - 20:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/41353
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LDP, DPJ leaders pledge to win next general election
TOKYO, Jan. 18 Kyodo -
The leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition
Democratic Party of Japan pledged at respective party conventions Sunday to win
the next general election, which must be held by September.
With Prime Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as LDP president, and DPJ President
Ichiro Ozawa showing resolve to score a victory at the House of Representatives
election, both parties geared up for the decisive race to determine who would
hold the next reins of government.
''We will make every possible effort toward the election,'' Aso, 68, told LDP
lawmakers and rank-and-file members at the 76th annual LDP convention, held at
a Tokyo hotel in the morning.
The party's 2009 campaign policy, approved at the convention, urges
participants to join forces to prove that the DPJ's pitch that it can wrest
control from the LDP is a complete ''mirage.''
Ozawa, 66, also showed his resolve to win the election at the DPJ's annual
convention in Tokyo, saying, ''By winning the lower house election, we will
create a new government and establish a new way of living based on our
principle of 'placing people's lives first.'''
The DPJ also adopted its campaign policy to realize a reversal of the ruling
and opposition parties and ensure a change of government, which is currently
led by the coalition of the LDP and the New Komeito party.
In order to tighten up the party ahead of the election, it incorporated an
expression stating that the party ''coolly recognizes that the situation in
single-seat constituencies is still severe.''
DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said the party seeks to win a single-party
majority at the lower house election, saying, ''We'd like to grab at least 150
victories in single-seat constituencies.''
On the current economic situation, Aso, who took office last September, also
pledged afresh to work hard to cope with the economic crisis facing Japan.
Aso has predicted that the Japanese economy will fully recover in three years,
but he said Sunday, ''We will work hard to weather the economic crisis. The
sooner, the better.''
''It is impossible for a nation that has overcome hosts of challenges in the
past not to ride out the current economic recession,'' he said.
Ozawa criticized the ruling parties, saying that they have forgotten the
responsibility and mission to protect the standard of living.
''If the government of the coalition of the LDP and the New Komeito lasts
another day, damage to livelihoods becomes bigger,'' he said, attacking the Aso
Cabinet for creating three months of political vacuum by not calling an
election and not implementing effective economic measures swiftly amid the
global financial crisis.
The DPJ had been criticizing Aso for not submitting a second extra budget in
the previous Diet session ended in December, although Aso has been reiterating
that he prioritizes economic measures over holding an election.
Ozawa said his party after taking power will use the nation's budget for such
issues as employment, pension and medical care by eliminating wasteful spending
of taxpayers' money.
Along with the campaign policy, the DPJ adopted an emergency statement on
employment, vowing to make its utmost efforts to recover the economy and create
employment, while actively working to provide support to people who cannot
secure housing and jobs amid the current economic downturn.
In the current regular Diet session, the ruling parties are seeking to have the
second extra budget for fiscal 2008 pass through the Diet swiftly, while
opposition parties call for the removal of a 2 trillion yen cash handout plan
from the budget.
In his speech at the convention, Ozawa called the plan ''mere pork-barrel and
wasteful spending of tax money'' that has been forced by the ruling coalition
seeking to win the general election.
Aso faces such criticism not only from opposition parties but also within his
party, with Yoshimi Watanabe, a high-profile House of Representatives lawmaker,
leaving the LDP on Tuesday after the ruling bloc rammed through the lower house
the second extra budget.
Also, Kenta Matsunami, who was parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office,
abstained from voting on the second budget Tuesday in the lower house plenary
session. He was dismissed from his post the next day.
In a bid to dispel such growing pressure from within his party over the cash
disbursement plan, Aso reiterated his resolve Saturday not to drop it.
''It is crucially important in light of economic measures and for people with
low incomes,'' Aso said in a speech at a meeting of secretaries general of the
party's local branches. ''I have to pursue this alone until the end.''
==Kyodo
The leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition
Democratic Party of Japan pledged at respective party conventions Sunday to win
the next general election, which must be held by September.
With Prime Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as LDP president, and DPJ President
Ichiro Ozawa showing resolve to score a victory at the House of Representatives
election, both parties geared up for the decisive race to determine who would
hold the next reins of government.
''We will make every possible effort toward the election,'' Aso, 68, told LDP
lawmakers and rank-and-file members at the 76th annual LDP convention, held at
a Tokyo hotel in the morning.
The party's 2009 campaign policy, approved at the convention, urges
participants to join forces to prove that the DPJ's pitch that it can wrest
control from the LDP is a complete ''mirage.''
Ozawa, 66, also showed his resolve to win the election at the DPJ's annual
convention in Tokyo, saying, ''By winning the lower house election, we will
create a new government and establish a new way of living based on our
principle of 'placing people's lives first.'''
The DPJ also adopted its campaign policy to realize a reversal of the ruling
and opposition parties and ensure a change of government, which is currently
led by the coalition of the LDP and the New Komeito party.
In order to tighten up the party ahead of the election, it incorporated an
expression stating that the party ''coolly recognizes that the situation in
single-seat constituencies is still severe.''
DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said the party seeks to win a single-party
majority at the lower house election, saying, ''We'd like to grab at least 150
victories in single-seat constituencies.''
On the current economic situation, Aso, who took office last September, also
pledged afresh to work hard to cope with the economic crisis facing Japan.
Aso has predicted that the Japanese economy will fully recover in three years,
but he said Sunday, ''We will work hard to weather the economic crisis. The
sooner, the better.''
''It is impossible for a nation that has overcome hosts of challenges in the
past not to ride out the current economic recession,'' he said.
Ozawa criticized the ruling parties, saying that they have forgotten the
responsibility and mission to protect the standard of living.
''If the government of the coalition of the LDP and the New Komeito lasts
another day, damage to livelihoods becomes bigger,'' he said, attacking the Aso
Cabinet for creating three months of political vacuum by not calling an
election and not implementing effective economic measures swiftly amid the
global financial crisis.
The DPJ had been criticizing Aso for not submitting a second extra budget in
the previous Diet session ended in December, although Aso has been reiterating
that he prioritizes economic measures over holding an election.
Ozawa said his party after taking power will use the nation's budget for such
issues as employment, pension and medical care by eliminating wasteful spending
of taxpayers' money.
Along with the campaign policy, the DPJ adopted an emergency statement on
employment, vowing to make its utmost efforts to recover the economy and create
employment, while actively working to provide support to people who cannot
secure housing and jobs amid the current economic downturn.
In the current regular Diet session, the ruling parties are seeking to have the
second extra budget for fiscal 2008 pass through the Diet swiftly, while
opposition parties call for the removal of a 2 trillion yen cash handout plan
from the budget.
In his speech at the convention, Ozawa called the plan ''mere pork-barrel and
wasteful spending of tax money'' that has been forced by the ruling coalition
seeking to win the general election.
Aso faces such criticism not only from opposition parties but also within his
party, with Yoshimi Watanabe, a high-profile House of Representatives lawmaker,
leaving the LDP on Tuesday after the ruling bloc rammed through the lower house
the second extra budget.
Also, Kenta Matsunami, who was parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office,
abstained from voting on the second budget Tuesday in the lower house plenary
session. He was dismissed from his post the next day.
In a bid to dispel such growing pressure from within his party over the cash
disbursement plan, Aso reiterated his resolve Saturday not to drop it.
''It is crucially important in light of economic measures and for people with
low incomes,'' Aso said in a speech at a meeting of secretaries general of the
party's local branches. ''I have to pursue this alone until the end.''
==Kyodo
