The choice of a scandal-tainted former leader of Japan’s new ruling party for a key role raised concerns yesterday that incoming prime minister Yukio Hatoyama had created a rival power center that would muddle policymaking.
Veteran lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa will assume the post of secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), months after a fundraising furor forced him to resign.
Ozawa was the DPJ’s chief campaign strategist and helped mastermind its historic defeat of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in an election for parliament’s lower house last Sunday.
Since Ozawa can take much of the credit for the victory, this will boost his clout within the party anyway, but his appointment to the No. 2 position makes it all the more likely that he will try to pull strings, as he did the only other time the LDP was ousted.
“The question is to what extent Ozawa can restrain himself,” said Tomoaki Iwai, a professor at Nihon University in Tokyo. “There may be times when he can’t and speaks out on policies at news conferences or tries to decide things without going through the proper decision-making process.”
Katsuya Okada, the current secretary-general, dismissed concerns about a dual party structure.
“The party leader and Mr Ozawa agreed that policy-making would be unified and that the secretary-general would not interfere,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Parliament will formally vote Hatoyama in as prime minister on Sept. 16. Hatoyama has said he will announce his Cabinet shortly after that, emphasizing that he will choose its members himself.
Ozawa, 67, stepped down as party leader in May after his close aide was charged with accepting illegal donations. The scandal is likely to come back into focus when the aide’s trial gets under way in the coming months.
Although the appointment had been expected, newspapers speculated that Ozawa would act as the power behind the throne and some voters were concerned.
“I am a bit worried,” said 41-year-old banker Shintaro Yamaoka. “Ozawa has power and numbers in the party. I wonder if Hatoyama will be able to carry out his own intentions.”
Broadcaster NHK said yesterday that Hatoyama had picked close ally Hirofumi Hirano for chief Cabinet secretary, a position that includes the role of chief government spokesman.
Hatoyama wants two other former party leaders, Okada and Naoto Kan, to take top portfolios, newspapers said.
Okada and Kan have been tipped as candidates for finance minister, a vital post as Japan struggles out of its worst recession since World War II.
The head of a new National Strategy Bureau, likely to be deeply involved in drawing up the budget and setting policy priorities, will also be a key appointment.
Investors have expressed concern that the new government will need to increase already high borrowing to fund its election promises and the appointments will be key to identifying the balance between social spending and reining in the fiscal deficit.
“The biggest concern — even bigger than who will be the new finance minister — is how they will secure funding for all their promised programs,” said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
A third name often floated for the finance post is Hirohisa Fujii, who served as finance minister in an anti-LDP coalition from 1993 to 1994.
Hatoyama’s choice for foreign minister will be closely watched after concerns the Democratic Party’s policy of building a more independent stance from the US could damage ties with Tokyo’s biggest security ally.
Negotiations continued yesterday on a coalition agreement with two tiny parties that could help make up for the Democrats’ lack of a majority in the less powerful upper house of parliament.
Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, said on Thursday the alliance was very likely to go ahead, but media said the talks would run into next week.
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