61% call for opposition leader Ozawa to step down: Kyodo poll

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TOKYO, March 8 Kyodo -
Pressure has increased for Ichiro Ozawa to step down as Democratic Party of
Japan leader as 61.1 percent of respondents in a telephone survey called for
him to do so following a fundraising scandal that led to the arrest of his
chief secretary, the results of a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday.
The survey, carried out on Saturday and Sunday, also found 28.9 percent said
Ozawa should stay on.
It also showed that the support rate for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso
edged up to 16.0 percent, up 2.6 percentage points from Kyodo's previous poll
conducted Feb. 17 to 18. The disapproval rate was down 5.8 points to 70.8
percent.
In the opinion poll, phone calls were made to numbers selected randomly by
computer. A total of 1,479 households with eligible voters were called, with
valid responses received from 1,032 individuals.
The latest Kyodo poll was the first of its kind since Ozawa's chief secretary,
Takanori Okubo, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of taking illegal corporate
donations from organizations linked to general contractor Nishimatsu
Construction Co.
Ozawa has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and insisted that he has no
intention of resigning as party president.
Okubo's arrest is considered a serious blow to the DPJ's bid to seize power in
parliament from the LDP-led coalition in a general election that must be held
by this fall. Until the scandal emerged, Ozawa had been widely regarded as the
man that would likely be chosen as prime minister as the DPJ gained more
support than the LDP led by the deeply unpopular Aso, who assumed office only
last September, in recent months.
Of the respondents in the latest survey, however, 43.5 percent said they would
prefer a government led by the DPJ, compared with the 31.6 percent who said
they prefer an LDP-led government. In the previous survey, 53.4 percent
preferred the DPJ, to 28.1 percent for the LDP.
Asked how much longer Aso should remain in power, 26.8 percent said he should
resign ''immediately,'' while 32.3 percent said he should stay at least until
passage of the fiscal 2009 national budget, which is expected by the end of
March. Another 23.4 percent called on him to quit around June, when the current
Diet session ends.
In addition, 26.7 percent said it is desirable for the House of Representatives
to be dissolved immediately for a general election, against the 21.2 percent
who said an election should take place after the expiration in September of the
current terms of the lower house members. Aso can call a general election at
any time.
Ozawa saw the support rate fall 12.8 points to 33.6 percent with regard to who
is most suitable to be prime minister. But the rate was still higher than that
for Aso, who got 25.6 percent with a rise of 5.2 points.
The LDP, which has governed Japan for more than half a century with an almost
unbroken succession, has its own agony from the donations scandal.
Prosecutors' probes have reportedly been spilling over to LDP lawmakers,
including economy, trade and industry minister Toshihiro Nikai, a key figure in
Aso's Cabinet, although he has denied the allegation.
Also on Sunday, the Mainichi Shimbun daily reported that its poll found some 57
percent of respondents said Ozawa should step down, compared with 33 percent
who see a resignation by Ozawa as unnecessary.
The Mainichi survey covered 1,686 households nationwide, with 1,032 people
responding.
==Kyodo
2009-03-08 21:30:19