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On March 10, DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa held his regular press conference at party headquarters. He commented on the issue of political donations alleged to have been made by Nishimatsu Construction to his political fund management organisation “Rikusankai”, saying, “I would like to apologise to my fellow DPJ Diet members and to the Japanese people for any trouble and anxiety I may have caused.” He followed this by reiterating his determination to make every effort to win the general election and bring about a change of government.
Ozawa said, “One of the main objectives on which I have staked my political career, is to transform the bureaucrat-led system of government and administration into one in which government and administration are led by the people. The other is to establish a true parliamentary democracy in Japan as soon as possible. In order to realise these two objectives, there is no alternative but to bring about a change of government.” He emphasised that he would do whatever was necessary to achieve these objectives, and stressed, “We must gain the people’s support and win the general election.” He added that he would make decisions, including whether or not to resign over investigations into the political donations issue, based on the question of whether election victory is obtainable under such circumstances.
Ozawa went on to comment on investigations into the political donations issue, saying, “Apart from the issue of clerical processing of the statement of revenues and expenditures, nothing else has been made public. If everything is made public, including other facts, then the public can make a decision at that point in time. At this time, I have absolutely no intention of resigning.”
Ozawa went on to point out that the current problem stemmed from a difference in interpretation of the clerical processing of the statement of revenues and expenditures, and stated that this kind of issue had been always been settled in the past by filing an amendment. He emphasised, “Making an immediate arrest is unprecedented [for a case like this]. If it were true that I had dirtied my hands by committing a crime such as accepting bribes, then undergoing any kind of treatment and any kind of investigation would be unavoidable, but that is not the case.”
Ozawa added, “As far as I am aware, I have never met any of the senior management of Nishimatsu Construction. I have not done anything that could be connected to a criminal act. If I have never met with them, then they could not have asked me for anything, neither could I have been asked for anything.”
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