Ozawa to handle election strategy, but info to be shared: DPJ's Okada+

TOKYO, May 20 Kyodo -
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan's election campaign operations
will be handled by the party's scandal-tainted former chief Ichiro Ozawa, but
DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada said Wednesday that he will not let Ozawa
dominate election strategy.

Basically, ''President (Yukio) Hatoyama will take charge in election
campaigning, and Acting President Ozawa will practice (campaign) operations,''
Okada told a press conference on Wednesday, a day after the DPJ began a new
chapter under the leadership of Hatoyama.
Speculation is rife, however, that Ozawa, who resigned amid a political fund
scandal last week, will continue to control the party as a backroom fixer after
being tapped to be the party's leading acting president in charge of election
strategy. This is a key post given that a House of Representatives election can
be called at any time.
When Ozawa was at the helm of the party, he reportedly kept to himself all the
information pertaining to constituencies and candidates and managed campaigning
funds on his own, almost never sharing any information with other members of
the party executive.
But Okada said, ''We will certainly share the information... Don't worry. We
will do it just fine.'' But he did not elaborate on how things will really work
under the new president's leadership.
A 66-year-old political heavyweight, Ozawa abruptly announced his resignation
on May 11 amid public calls to do so in the wake of the scandal that led to the
indictment of one of his close aides for alleged violations of the political
funds control law.
Speaking at a press conference at the Japan National Press Club, Okada, 55,
said he decided to run in last Saturday's party leadership election as he
believed that whoever assumed the top party post needed to go through a contest
in order to become ''a strong leader.''
In the election, Okada, who was formerly DPJ vice president, was defeated by
former Secretary General Hatoyama, a 62-year-old seasoned lawmaker who wields
considerable clout within the party, by a margin of 29 votes, despite his
greater popularity in public opinion polls.
''I thought I had no choice but to accept the post of secretary general,'' he
said. ''Otherwise, it would have looked as if the party had suffered a
schism.''
Regarding the Ozawa scandal, Okada repeated his view that Ozawa should explain
exactly how he used the large amount of money allegedly donated by general
contractor Nishimatsu Construction Co.
''What the public wants to know is what he used the money for,'' he said.
The scandal dealt a heavy blow to the DPJ, but analysts say that the party
still has a good shot at toppling the ruling bloc of the Liberal Democratic
Party and the New Komeito party in the next general election that must be held
by October.
An election victory for the DPJ would put an end to the LDP's almost total
control of Japanese politics since 1955.
==Kyodo