Ozawa tapped for next year`s election, DPJ begins coalition moves

TOKYO, Aug. 31 Kyodo -
Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama has decided to keep
heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa as chief election strategist for the House of
Councillors election next summer while launching moves to form a coalition
government with two other parties, DPJ sources said Monday.
Hatoyama, who is set to become Japan's next prime minister after the DPJ
toppled the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's election for the
more powerful House of Representatives, is also planning to retain his current
party leadership for the time being, the sources said.
Prior to the election, the DPJ had planned for Hatoyama to name his chief and
deputy chief Cabinet secretaries as well as a new DPJ secretary general as soon
as victory was assured and to have them join the transition team, but the party
decided at an executive meeting Sunday to drop the plan.
Hatoyama now intends to finish appointing his Cabinet and party leadership,
with current executives playing the central role, around the time a special
Diet session is convened at which he is expected to be elected prime minister,
possibly on Sept. 15, the sources said.
He has also asked the DPJ's allies -- the Social Democratic Party and the
People's New Party -- to start talks on forming a coalition government,
assigning DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada as the party's key negotiator,
with a view to quickly reaching an accord, they said.
Speaking in a media interview the day after the LDP was deprived of its status
as the largest party in the lower house for the first time in its 54-year
history, Hatoyama said he wants Ozawa, fellow Acting President Naoto Kan, and
Okada to ''continue to play a central role.''
Ozawa on Sunday expressed his willingness to continue taking charge of election
matters, saying, ''I will follow the instructions of President Hatoyama.'' The
other party executives will also likely remain in key party posts or be
assigned Cabinet portfolios.
On Monday evening, Hatoyama denied media reports that he had already embarked
on procedures to form a new government.
''I will decide on appointments all at once (after the special parliamentary
session), but until then, I will try not to have (any of the information) leak
out,'' he told reporters.
As for the planned coalition with the SDP and the PNP, Hatoyama told reporters,
''We fought the election in collaboration (with the two parties) on the premise
of forming a coalition.'' He added that the DPJ will aim to ''reach a final
agreement as soon as possible'' with them.
But it could take time for the three parties to reach a formal agreement as the
PNP will not be able to respond quickly to talks after its president, Tamisuke
Watanuki, and secretary general, Hisaoki Kamei, lost their seats in the
election.
The SDP, for its part, is unlikely to agree on launching a coalition before the
party convenes a conference of nationwide representatives around Friday to
exchange opinions on the issue.
Against this backdrop, some political observers say an accord between the DPJ,
the SDP and the PNP is not likely until next week at the earliest.
SDP chief Mizuho Fukushima told reporters Monday morning that apart from the
envisaged coalition talks, her party plans to propose setting up a standing
panel for working-level consultations on policies among the planned coalition
partners.
As for other small opposition parties, Hatoyama intends to maintain
collaboration with the New Party Nippon and the New Party Daichi but indicated
a negative stance on working with the recently formed Your Party.
On Sunday night, Hatoyama told a press conference that the DPJ will establish a
new ministerial post in the Cabinet for the National Strategy Bureau, a
policymaking body it plans to establish, and to tap a person in a key party
post such as policy chief to take the portfolio.
==Kyodo