Global IssuesPOLITICS-JAPAN: Donation Scam Setback for Main Opposition Party
The arrest of a top aide to opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa on Tuesday, for allegedly accepting illegal political donations, could not have come at a worse moment for his Democratic Party Japan (DPJ).
A win by the DP, in elections due by September, can end more than 50 years of nearly unbroken rule by Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Prosecutors may question him for allegedly violating campaign funding laws, Kyodo News said Thursday, citing 'investigative sources’’ that the agency did not reveal. Ozawa said that the charges were politically motivated and that neither he nor his aide had done anything wrong.
'What my aide has done is perfectly legal,' Ozawa said at a press conference Wednesday. 'I have nothing to feel guilty about. This unprecented probe came as we are heading toward lower house polls. I feel this is an execution of power carried out by authorities in a politically and legally unfair way.'
Tokyo prosecutors allege that Ozawa’s political funding organisation, Ribuzankai, received 333,000 US dollars in illegal donations during 2003-07 from two company executives at Nishimatsu Construction Co. Ltd.
Japanese law prohibits companies from donating money to individual politicians or their fund-raising organisations, but may do so to political parties.
DPJ secretary general Yukio Hatoyama asked the prosecutors to explain their investigation to the public, saying this was extremely 'abnormal and it is inevitable that speculations over their political intention will be stirred since the arrest came prior to the general election’’.
Ozawa is not overly popular within the DPJ, but he is the only party leader with the campaign skills to defeat the LDP, in the next elections. This is a big blow for Japan’s largest opposition party. About 25 percent of Japanese favored Ozawa as Japan’s next prime minister, against only eight percent for Aso, according to the Mainichi Newspaper survey last month.
Calls for Ozawa to resign as party chief cast some doubt about whether the DPJ can now achieve its goal of defeating the LDP in the next election.
'If Ozawa does wind up resigning it may give the LDP, and possibly Prime Minister Aso, a new lease on life,' said Weston Konishi, adjunct fellow at the Washington-based Mansfield Foundation.
Aso is struggling to retain his job and some members from his party are calling for him to step down before the election, which must be held in October. Aso’s approval rating has dropped to 10 percent
But he is refusing to step down and the LDP has exhausted all other candidates and there are no legal obligations for him do so.
'I think his decision to remain in office stems from the broader concern about the survivability of the LDP past his administration,' Konishi says. ' It would be easier for Aso to step down if there were an obvious successor in the LDP ranks who could assure victory against the DPJ in the lower house elections. No such person exists.'
Minus that kind of leader, LDP’s leadership is uncomfortable handing the reins of power to someone who is untested. Given the precariousness of the LDP right now, that's a gamble the party is unwilling to take - no matter how low Aso's approval ratings are at the moment.
'In other words, the LDP appears more comfortable riding a sinking ship than hopping to another one that might just sink,' Konishi says.
In the near term, none of this political volatility is positive for the nation. At a time when the global financial crisis is a challenge to even the most stable governments around the world, Japan's government is merely doing what it can to survive - not necessarily taking bolds steps to tackle the problems at hand, according to Konishi.
'The Japanese people are frustrated with the lack of leadership in the LDP, yet are still not wholly convinced that the DP has what it takes to take reins over the country,' Konishi said. 'This latest incident with Ozawa's secretary casts further doubt that the DPJ can earn the trust of the people and represent a new era of politics in Japan.'
Kanako Takawa, a 35- year-old middle school teacher, says she is frustrated because, 'the LDP has been in power way too long and I want them out, but I don’t like Ozawa.
Robert Dujarrac, of Temple University Japan, agrees. 'The average Japanese thinks all these guys are corrupt. Aso wants to stay, there's probably no one who really wants the job now - his enemies within the LDP may prefer to have him (Aso) be responsible for their electoral defeat.'
But some critics warn that this scandal could spread to the LDP because a private secretary from any party could be arrested for suspicion of corporate donations.
However, such investigations normally do not spread so easily, as the special prosecutor's office has a limited number of personnel who are well trained in the political world. They must concentrate their attention on what they are biting, so that the case could sustain the court proceedings.
This type of incident could occur with an LDP politician, but the party is always susceptible to corruption and illegal donation scandals
This particular scandal so far seems contained to Ozawa's secretary and the DPJ. But even Aso cannot be sure what will happen by the end of April or early May.
The secretary recognised that the donations had come from political organisations, not a company, Ozawa told reporters, adding that he and his secretary did ‘‘not deserve the investigation, including the arrest.’’
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said he believes the prosecution is handling the matter appropriately. ‘‘I wonder if the words of a head of the leading opposition party, which calls for a change of government, can be accepted by the public,’’ Kawamura told a separate press conference.
© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service