EDITORIAL: What is DPJ thinking?

The Democratic Party of Japan apparently has no intention of juggling its leadership under the party leader and prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, and its secretary-general, Ichiro Ozawa, before the Upper House election this summer.

The Hatoyama Cabinet's approval ratings have declined steadily since its inception last year. In the latest Asahi Shimbun poll, taken over the weekend, only 21 percent of respondents supported the Cabinet. The figure could dip below 20 percent any day now. In the same poll, 76 percent called for Ozawa's resignation from the party post. The figure was same as in the previous poll.

If the DPJ thinks it can survive the summer election in its present state, it has got another thing coming. It would mean it has no grasp of the disappointment and anger felt by legions of voters who wanted regime change to transform the nation's politics.

Let's start with Ozawa. A prosecution inquest committee decided in late April that Ozawa should have been indicted over a land transaction conducted by his fund management organization. The committee concluded there were strong suspicions he had violated the Political Fund Control Law. Last weekend, Ozawa voluntarily submitted to further questioning by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.

Ozawa is believed to have again denied his involvement in the falsification of political fund reports. At a scheduled news conference Monday, he refused to disclose details of the questioning.

Ozawa said he would give his side of the story to the Lower House Deliberative Council on Political Ethics in the near future. But what goes on in the council is not disclosed to the public as a basic rule, and the session is off-limits to reporters. Unlike sworn witnesses summoned by the Diet, nobody can be held for perjury as a result of what is said before the council.

If Ozawa is innocent, as he claims, what is stopping him from testifying under oath in the Diet? "If I explain myself fully, I am confident the people will understand me," he said. But explaining himself behind closed doors will hardly have the effect he desires.

Ozawa said he "doesn't mind" whether the ethics council decides to make the hearing public or private. If he insists on explaining himself to this council, the hearing should be public. But whatever he may do now, we don't think it will do anyone any good.

Ever since prosecutors dropped their case against him in February, Ozawa has acted as if the scandal had become a non-issue. He has consistently ignored the demands of the opposition camp and the public that he testify before the Diet.

Traditionally, the political ethics council has served as a venue for bringing down the curtain on scandals, rather than for bringing them to light. The Diet is scheduled to adjourn in less than a month. By abruptly changing his stance, Ozawa should not complain if people accuse him of trying to wipe his slate clean before the Upper House election.

As for Hatoyama, who has effectively reneged on his promise to settle the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma by the end of May, there is no indication he will heed an opposition demand for his resignation. Obviously, his resignation will not resolve the issue. Still, voters have not forgotten his words in the Diet: "I am putting my job on the line." And Hatoyama is not without a political fund scandal of his own.

Given the circumstances, it should be only natural for the DPJ to be discussing the political responsibilities of Hatoyama and Ozawa. But no DPJ member is saying anything in public, which defies our understanding. Voters are watching closely how Hatoyama, Ozawa and the DPJ as a whole will deal with their respective political responsibilities. Ignoring the voting public will cost the DPJ dearly in the Upper House election.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 18