Japan’s main opposition party will vote on Saturday for a new leader to replace scandal-tainted Ichiro Ozawa, in a move likely to boost its fading poll ratings ahead of an election just months away.
The Democratic Party had a clear poll lead until a funding scandal erupted and threatened its chances of ousting Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan for almost all of the past five decades.
Analysts said the Democrats’ platform — the core of which is a pledge to break bureaucrats’ grip on policy to reduce wasteful spending and end the cossetting of vested interests — was unlikely to change much, no matter who leads the party.
The Democrats have also vowed to strengthen the social safety net, revive domestic demand in the midst of a deep recession and pay more heed to consumers and workers than firms.
For possible successors, analysts have focused on former party leader Katsuya Okada, 55, a soft-spoken former trade official with a “Mr Clean” image, and Yukio Hatoyama, 62, another former party chief and a fourth generation politician who was one of Ozawa’s deputies.
“I would like to think about it ... The important thing is what I should do to realize a change in government,” Kyodo news agency quoted Okada as saying.
Democratic lawmakers from parliament’s two houses will take part in the vote after Ozawa resigned on Monday.
“The person needs to have the will, decisiveness and courage to be prime minister and, above all, a vision and an ability to encourage and energize people,” former party leader Seiji Maehara said, adding he had no plans to run.
Ozawa’s decision to quit had little impact on financial markets, although many players want to see an end to a political stalemate that has stymied policy in the world’s second-biggest economy as it struggles with its worst recession in 60 years.
“In terms of winning popularity, Okada would be best, but in terms of internal party dynamics, Hatoyama would be better,” said Keio University professor Yasunori Sone said. “The Democrats’ biggest weakness is the lack of a clear macroeconomic policy,” he said.
Policy making in Japan has been hampered since opposition parties won control of parliament’s upper house in 2007, allowing them to delay legislation.
The Democrats, a decade-old party including former LDP members, former socialists and younger conservatives, had looked poised to win the election until Ozawa’s aide was arrested and charged with accepting illegal campaign donations in March.
Analysts said the party could now regain momentum — if it selects a new leader without the internal squabbling that has plagued the Democrats in the past.
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