Ozawa to decide on resignation by mulling possible effects on election+

TOKYO, March 31 Kyodo -
Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa suggested again Tuesday he may
step down as leader of the main opposition party if it faces difficulty in
winning a House of Representatives election which must be held by this fall.
''I'll make a decision by considering whether a change of government can be
brought about,'' Ozawa said as he repeated his reasoning for possible
resignation. ''My thought that I would like to realize a change of government
by gaining people's understanding hasn't changed.''
Ozawa added that the next general election will be the ''culmination'' of his
political life and that a change of government must take place in order to
''establish a parliamentary democracy'' and create politics based on people's
views.
Ozawa, whose chief secretary has been indicted in a fundraising scandal, said
the party will conduct a poll in April to assess its strength, which is likely
to become one of the sources for the DPJ leader to decide whether to step down.
While declining to mention the timing of making a decision as he does not know
when the lower election will be held, Ozawa also said his party is ready to
face a lower house election if the lower house is dissolved in either May or
after the Group of Eight summit in Italy in July.
On the loss of a DPJ-backed candidate in the Chiba gubernatorial election this
past Sunday, Ozawa said ''it is true'' that the scandal had an effect on the
election result.
But he also expressed a view that the effect of the scandal has been limited
given that a DPJ-backed candidate won a by-election for the Kisarazu district
in the Chiba prefectural assembly election also held Sunday.
Ozawa's secretary, Takanori Okubo, was indicted on March 24 for having
falsified funding reports on donations from general contractor Nishimatsu
Construction Co., dealing a blow to the party, which aims to topple the ruling
coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party in the next
general election.
On recent polls showing that a majority of respondents think Ozawa should
resign, Ozawa said he should accept the result with sincerity but that his
decision will ultimately be based on whether the party can score a victory in
the election.
Ozawa reiterated that he has dealt with the donations in accordance with the
political funds control law.
''I would like institutions -- prosecutors, police and the national tax
authorities which have compelling force against the public -- to be careful in
exercising their power,'' Ozawa said. ''Otherwise, they may violate people's
basic human rights.''
==Kyodo
2009-03-31 22:15:19