ニュース 2009/03/17 Ozawa emphasises change of government is main goal On March 17, DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa held his regular press conference at party headquarters. He referred to the issue of political donations to his political fund management organisation “Rikusankai”, which are alleged to have come from Nishimatsu Construction, and expressed his intention of deciding whether to continue as DPJ President after he had viewed the results of the prosecutors’ investigation, saying: “We recorded the organisation from which we received the donation in the political fund report in accordance with the requirements of the Political Fund Control Law, and therefore I believe that the prosecutor’s office will reach a fair conclusion. It will not be long before the authorities make their decision, and once that conclusion has been issued I would like to make a decision regarding myself.” When asked whether the results of local elections such as the Chiba gubernatorial election would influence his decision to continue as party leader, he replied in the negative, commenting, “It is not always the case that local elections and national elections are inevitably linked.” In relation to this, Ozawa stressed his determination to make every effort to win the general election and achieve a change of government, commenting “Our main goal, our main mission, is to take power ourselves, and establish a parliamentary democracy where administrations can be selected by the people here in Japan, as well as a government that is led by the people. That is totally unconnected to my personal ambitions or goals. I want to focus all my energy on this one point, this culmination of my political career.” Ozawa went on to refer to the issue of politics and money, saying, “In this instance, even though a donation made from a political organisation to another political organisation was properly reported, and disclosed, questions were raised. The majority of corporations have dealings with central government and local authorities, so it is not possible to divide up corporate donations according to whether a company is involved in public works projects. Political organisations also don’t know the actual source of funds.” He suggested that if corporate donations were to be banned, it would be best to ban all donations from organisations and limit donations to those from individuals, saying: “If you are going to prohibit [corporate donations] then the most clear-cut way of doing that would be to ban all donations from corporations and organisations, including political organisations.” Ozawa went on to emphasise, “There will soon be a general election. If the DPJ takes power, we will change the mechanism of government and the method of governance, and of course we will also raise the issue of politics and money.” Furthermore, Ozawa referred to statements made by Prime Minister Aso on the arrest of Ozawa’s publicly-funded secretary on suspicion of violating the Political Fund Control Law (by falsifying political fund records), in which Aso said that “It was clearly a violation of the law, and so he was arrested.” Ozawa severely criticised Aso’s behaviour, saying, “Although the prosecutors’ office is said to have a quasi-judicial function, there is no mistaking the fact that it is part of the administration. The head of that administration has never in the past made such comments. I find it questionable that he should have made them as Prime Minister and chief of the administration.” Ozawa was asked, “In Italy there has been a tendency for politics to be decided by the law rather than by the choice of the people. Do you think there is a danger of that happening here in Japan?” He replied, “While I expect to see conscientious and fair administration by the prosecutors, I believe that democracy will not function unless we show judgement and morals. Exercises of public power must be carried out cautiously due to their relation to the human rights of citizens.”