EDITORIAL: Ozawa's Diet testimony

Ichiro Ozawa has rebuffed Democratic Party of Japan Secretary-General Katsuya Okada's request that the former president of the ruling party explain before the Diet his alleged involvement in reporting irregularities concerning a land purchase.

In an Internet program, Ozawa declared it is neither appropriate nor necessary for the legislature to debate a legal case being handled by the judiciary.

Ozawa is about to be indicted on a charge of violating the Political Fund Control Law. The facts concerning the allegations against him should of course be clarified through his trial, but it is hard to understand the logic of his argument that it is inappropriate for him to give the Diet his own explanation of what happened.

In politics, the extent and depth of responsibility politicians hold and how they must live up to their responsibilities are determined by their status. The situation might be different if Ozawa was not such an influential politician and one who had clear ambitions of becoming prime minister.

Two months ago, Ozawa ran in the DPJ leadership race, a vote that effectively decides the prime minister. He has been at the center of the political stage for many years, and moreover, he has played a key role in the nation's political reform.

Isn't it obvious that Ozawa's political status is such that he cannot be allowed to avoid facing questions about the political fund scandal in the Diet? It is appropriate and necessary for him to offer a sensible accounting of the scandal to the Diet if asked.

After a prosecution inquest committee decided to force an indictment against him, Ozawa told reporters that he would comply with any Diet decision to summon him to testify as a sworn witness or to attend a meeting of the Deliberative Council on Political Ethics to talk about the scandal.

In the webcast, Ozawa said this was not a decision Okada should make on his own. The question is "what kind of decision the Diet will make, and before that, the party," he said.

His remarks appear to indicate he is willing to comply with whatever decision is made on the matter by the party or the Diet.

The Deliberative Council on Political Ethics is supposed to examine any issue when requested to do so by the lawmaker in question or by a proposal approved by a majority of its members.

The DPJ should press the Diet to schedule a session of the council on the Ozawa scandal.

Even if the council votes to ask a lawmaker to appear at a session, the lawmaker is not legally required to attend. In fact, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama declined such a request to attend a session over his own scandal concerning dubious political donations in the names of dead people.

But Ozawa has pledged to comply with the Diet's decision on the matter. He should not choose such a wrong-headed response if he takes that promise seriously.

When announcing his resignation as prime minister, Hatoyama urged Chiyomi Kobayashi, then a DPJ member of the Lower House, to "take the blame" for an election campaign funding scandal in which she had become embroiled. Subsequently, Kobayashi resigned as a Diet member to take responsibility for not properly supervising her election campaign.

In contrast, the DPJ has taken no disciplinary action against Ozawa despite the fact that his former aides have been indicted and his own forced indictment has been ensured.

The ruling party is no doubt worried about the political repercussions of such an action against the heavyweight who won 200 votes from party Diet members in the leadership election. If, however, the party leadership is incapable of getting Ozawa to explain himself in the Diet, and of taking disciplinary action against him, its competence and integrity will likely be called into question.

On this issue, Prime Minister Naoto Kan recently said, "I will ensure the party makes the decision it has to make when there is no other choice, even if it is one that (Ozawa) doesn't like."

It's about time the party made that decision.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 5