Kan or Ozawa for PM: DPJ set for leadership vote

TOKYO —

Whether Prime Minister Naoto Kan can stay in office will be decided later Tuesday in a presidential election of the Democratic Party of Japan after a fierce two-week campaign battle with his sole opponent Ichiro Ozawa, a political bigwig who is credited with the party’s rise to power last year.

If Kan loses the election, Japan would see its sixth prime minister in four years and the third since the DPJ swept to power one year ago at a time of growing concerns about its flagging economy and a renewed territorial rift with China, triggered last week by vessel collisions near a chain of disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Kan and Ozawa are vying for a majority of 1,222 points under the party’s electoral system. DPJ parliamentarians, who are responsible for nearly 70 percent of the total points, will begin voting after the two contenders deliver their final 15-minute speeches at an extraordinary party convention starting at 2 p.m. at a Tokyo hotel.

Surveys conducted by major media outlets have shown that Kan is leading Ozawa among DPJ local assembly members and general supporters, who are participating in a party leadership election for the first time since 2002.

But Kan, who has been in office only three months, and Ozawa, who leads the largest intraparty group, are running neck and neck among Diet members.

There are about 30 DPJ lawmakers who have not made up their minds.

Postal ballots by local assembly members, party members and rank-and-file supporters have already been sent to DPJ headquarters and the results of their voting will also be released at the convention.

If all goes smoothly, the winner of the election will be known between around 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., according to the DPJ.

During the campaign, both candidates have stressed the importance of reviving the sluggish economy by boosting domestic demand, but there were some differences in their approaches.

Ozawa, 68, has urged the DPJ to stick to the promises the party made for the August 2009 lower house election, which it won by a landslide to end an almost unbroken half-century of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.

Ozawa, often dubbed ‘‘the shadow shogun’’ of Japanese politics, has said the DPJ must redouble its efforts to wrest control from the country’s powerful bureaucracy in managing taxpayers’ money and formulating key policies.

Ozawa said funds necessary to implement the pledges, ranging from monthly child allowances to toll-free expressways, could be squeezed out if he exercises strong political leadership and more wasteful public spending is cut.

While Ozawa favors more stimulus spending, the 63-year-old prime minister has taken a somewhat more realistic attitude toward the generous pledges, pointing to the need to review them in the event of fiscal shortfalls.

Kan, who was finance minister before assuming office on June 8, has been more sensitive to fiscal consolidation, expressing the need to have a debate on tax and regulatory reforms, while saying that job creation in new business areas, not overly relying on spending, holds the key to revitalize Japan.

In addition, Kan—the first leader in many years not born into a blue-blooded political family—has said one of his major goals is making Japanese politics more open and clean where money does not talk.

Kan’s image as a grassroots activist-turned-lawmaker is in contrast with that of Ozawa, known as an old-school backroom fixer, who is still dogged by a political funding scandal.

Ozawa became DPJ president in April 2006 but stepped down from the top party post in May 2009, prior to the House of Representatives election, after his state-paid aide was arrested and indicted over dubious political contributions from a construction company.

He later held the DPJ’s No. 2 post of secretary general but resigned in early June this year, together with Kan’s predecessor Yukio Hatoyama, due to fears over lackluster public support for the party ahead of the House of Councillors election, in which the ruling coalition suffered a stinging defeat.

Ozawa has denied any wrongdoing over the scandal involving his political funds management body.

But he could be indicted in the near future if a judicial panel formed by randomly picked citizens, which is currently reviewing an earlier decision by prosecutors not to charge him over the case, concludes it is appropriate for prosecution. 

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/

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