EDITORIAL: Scandals in the Diet

The first ordinary Diet session since the Democratic Party of Japan came into power made a stormy start Monday, as the investigation continues into a dubious land transaction in 2004 by the political fund management organization of DPJ Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa.

Ozawa is said to have agreed to submit to questioning by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. This, and the matter of suspected falsifications of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's political donation reports, are bound to dominate Diet debate for the time being.

We may have become used to government-opposition mud-slinging over the issue of money and politics. But what is unfolding now is entirely different in nature from anything we have seen in the past.

Not too long ago, voters brought about a historic change in regime. Many people must have voted for the DPJ because they were fed up with corrupt "money politics" of the preceding administrations.

But if their chosen new administration proves no better, voters will naturally feel a sense of futility and may never quite recover from their disillusionment with party politics.

We doubt very much that the prime minister and members of his government and ruling coalition are really aware of this danger. A perfect case in point is Hatoyama's exhortation to Ozawa to "fight (the prosecutors)."

Tadamori Oshima, secretary-general of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, questioned Hatoyama on Tuesday: "I cannot believe that those were the words of the prime minister of our country. (When you encouraged Ozawa) to 'fight,' exactly who did you have in mind?"

Oshima's implied question--do you intend to interfere with the investigation?--is completely legitimate.

Hatoyama replied, "I am the head of the executive branch of government, and I trust that the prosecutors will conduct a fair investigation."

But we must say that Hatoyama is pathetically insensitive concerning his choice of words and the situation he is in.

His DPJ is now conducting some eyebrow-raising maneuvers. The party decided Monday to establish an in-house team to "deal with information leaks concerning the (Ozawa) investigation." The party explained that the team's purpose is to determine if prosecutors are trying to manipulate the media.

Kazuhiro Haraguchi, minister of internal affairs and communications, noted Tuesday that reporters should reveal their sources for the string of recent reports.

And DPJ lawmakers elected at the same time as Tomohiro Ishikawa, a former Ozawa aide who has been arrested, have formed a "group to examine Ishikawa's arrest."

All of these moves were apparently calculated to work in sync with Ozawa's "full-scale confrontation" with prosecutors. An unusual political landscape has been unfolding before us.

We suspect the DPJ has some wrong ideas about the overwhelming popular support it won in the Lower House election last year. Prosecutors are not infallible, nor is the ruling coalition omnipotent. In a healthy democracy, everyone is expected to aim for restraint and balance and carefully follow due process.

In criticizing prosecutors, Ozawa lamented, "If this is allowed to happen, there is no hope for Japan's democracy." We must say that this is exactly how the current situation--created by the DPJ--looks.

The DPJ's foremost priority should be to prevent the Diet from stalling. Ozawa and other concerned individuals must explain the facts before the Diet.

Once that is out of the way, the Diet can move on to budget deliberations and policy debates. It was none other than Ozawa who preached most vigorously for "lively Diet deliberations" after the regime change.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 20