Ozawa confident DPJ will win general election+

TOKYO, April 14 Kyodo -
Opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa expressed confidence Tuesday that his Democratic
Party of Japan will win the next lower house election and dethrone the Liberal
Democratic Party.
''The Japanese people are hoping for a change of government and our party will
be the leading party, at least,'' Ozawa was quoted by DPJ lawmaker Tenzo
Okumura as saying in a meeting with former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter
Mondale.
According to Okumura, Ozawa also told Mondale that he feels responsible for
putting the DPJ under fire because of the recent indictment of his secretary
over a fundraising scandal.
Ozawa was quoted as saying that the incident ''allowed the government to go on
the offensive toward us and it was my fault.''
Ozawa's secretary, Takanori Okubo, was indicted in March on a charge of falsely
reporting donations from general contractor Nishimatsu Construction Co. in
violation of the political funds control law.
The scandal dealt a blow to the DPJ, which aims to topple the ruling coalition
of the LDP and the New Komeito party in the next House of Representatives
election which must be held by this fall.
After Okubo was indicted on March 24, the DPJ suffered setbacks in
gubernatorial elections with back-to-back losses by candidates the party
supported in Chiba and Akita.
Meanwhile, Ozawa criticized the government for its stance on Japan-U.S.
relations, saying that Japan ''does not take risks although it calls the ties a
Japan-U.S. alliance.''
''We should work together as alliance partners under the framework laid out by
the United Nations,'' Ozawa was quoted by Okumura as saying.
On the April 5 rocket launch by North Korea, Ozawa stressed that holding
discussions with China, Pyongyang's closest ally, will help find a breakthrough
in the situation and that it is important for Japan and the United States to
work together on the matter.
The talks between Ozawa and Mondale were held at Mondale's request.
==Kyodo
2009-04-14 22:36:04