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| AsiaViews, Edition: 48/VI/March2010 |
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| DPJ in big trouble ahead of election |
Democratic Party of Japan Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa found time to laugh during his first meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in nearly a month.
But the DPJ has no time to joke around.
Hatoyama instructed Ozawa on Tuesday to make preparations for the DPJ's manifesto for the Upper House election expected in July, and, in a related matter, to start negotiations to ban political donations from corporations and organizations.
The two DPJ leaders realize that the party cannot expect a repeat of its landslide victory in the Lower House election last August unless it improves its image.
But the two men, who vaulted the party to power less than six months ago, were largely responsible for the party's slide.
Both Hatoyama and Ozawa were embroiled in political fund scandals, but were not prosecuted. However, their current and former aides were indicted, and a sizable percentage of voters feel the two politicians have failed to fully clear their names.
The Hatoyama Cabinet's support rate has continued to slide, from 71 percent at its inauguration to 37 percent last month.
In a reflection of the backlash against the scandals, candidates backed by the DPJ lost in the Feb. 21 local elections in Tokyo and Nagasaki Prefecture.
Hatoyama at that time conceded that "the money and politics issue had to do with (the losses)."
The theme came up again in the Hatoyama-Ozawa meeting at the Prime Minister's Official Residence.
According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, who attended the meeting, Hatoyama told Ozawa, "We have to think about the issue of politics and money, especially a ban on donations from corporations and organizations, from its roots."
Hatoyama instructed Ozawa to start negotiations on setting up a forum among ruling and opposition parties to discuss banning political donations from corporations and other organizations.
The ban was mentioned in the DPJ's manifesto for the Lower House election last year.
During the 30-minute meeting, their first since Feb. 8, Hatoyama and Ozawa also agreed to have a group of representatives from the DPJ and the government, led by Hatoyama, draft the party's manifesto for the Upper House election.
At a time when their power is declining on a daily basis, Hatoyama and Ozawa apparently want to show that they will take charge of preparations for the Upper House election. Hatoyama's determination to lead efforts on compiling the manifesto is seen as a sign of his concern.
The move was welcome by some DPJ lawmakers critical of Ozawa.
The prime minister said he is focused on "what makes the DPJ what it is," an apparent reference to differentiating the party from the old money-politics style under the Liberal Democratic Party's long rule.
The meeting was held on the day the Lower House passed the budget bill for fiscal 2010, ensuring its passage in the Diet this month.
But the talks also came a day after a new money-politics scandal hit the DPJ.
Four people, including leaders of the Hokkaido teachers' union, were arrested over suspected illegal campaign donations for a DPJ member who was elected to the Lower House last year.
Reforming the DPJ's image will be tough, but so will compiling the manifesto, which is expected to basically be a revision and supplement of the party's Lower House election manifesto last year.
The party faces a big obstacle: a lack of funds to implement its programs.
The DPJ has already made "revisions" to last year's manifesto.
For example, one of the main promises was to abolish temporary taxes, such as gasoline surtaxes. But this pledge was not reflected in the budget for fiscal 2010 compiled in December.
Although the DPJ vowed to offer a child allowance of 13,000 yen ($146) a month per child from state coffers in fiscal 2010, the party has called on local governments and companies to chip in.
And while the DPJ vowed to reallocate 7.1 trillion yen for fiscal 2010 by cutting money-wasting projects, it squeezed out only 1 trillion yen. |
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| The Asahi Shimbun, 04 March 2010 |
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