Leadership, political style will be judged

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Democratic Party of Japan presidential election was officially announced Wednesday. Prime Minister Naoto Kan and former DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa filed candidacies before announcing respective plans for a new administration at a joint press conference.

The conference laid bare the differences between the two on key issues including modifications to the DPJ's pledges for last year's House of Representatives election, a possible consumption tax increase and the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture. We hope Kan and Ozawa will deepen their arguments on these crucial matters.

Kan said he would strive to make the DPJ "clean and open." To hammer home the point that the upcoming election in effect will choose a prime minister, Kan said, "This will be an election in which people will decide which candidate is best suited to serve as prime minister."

Public opinion polls have shown that Kan enjoys reasonable support among the general public. Against this backdrop, Kan criticized Ozawa over his possible involvement in a political funding scandal and his high-handed party management, apparently in a bid to generate more support among registered party members and supporters eligible to vote in the election.

Who's in charge?

Ozawa said, "I filed my candidacy because I felt it necessary to set up a system under which politicians can decide on policies and budget allocations at their own discretion," emphasizing he wants last year's change of power to usher in a politician-led decision-making system.

Ozawa's thinly veiled criticism probably stemmed from his perception that under Kan's administration, budget compilation and policymaking have been led by bureaucrats, indicating Kan's lack of leadership as prime minister.

We hope Kan and Ozawa will clarify the differences in their political styles, how they think administration should be managed, and how they would exercise leadership.

The starkest difference between Kan and Ozawa is over the DPJ's campaign pledges for last year's lower house election.

"When a policy has become difficult to implement, we'll explain to the public and seek their understanding," Kan said at the press conference, hinting that some policies might be modified. In contrast, Ozawa insisted the pledges are "promises made to the people."

The money squeezed out through the government budget screening process last year fell far short of the amount needed to fully fund the DPJ's pledges. It is apparent that cutting the fat and wasteful spending from the budget alone will be unlikely to provide sufficient funds to carry out the DPJ's policies.

Discuss consumption tax

Ozawa indicated he did not favor raising the consumption tax rate for the time being. Kan, however, took a different tack.

"We'll discuss how the social security system should function and where financial resources for it will come from," he said. "Discussing the consumption tax issue in that context is important."

The consumption tax rate will inevitably need to be raised to help cover ever-increasing social security expenses. Kan should take the lead in actively discussing the consumption tax issue.

With regard to the Futenma relocation, Ozawa said he would hold fresh talks with the Okinawa prefectural government and the U.S. government. Although Japan reached an accord with the United States on the base's relocation in May, Ozawa justified his position by saying he was not involved in the policy decision made by the administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Annulling the accord would destabilize Japan-U.S. relations and greatly harm the national interest. We think Ozawa should spell out precisely what he has in mind.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 2, 2010)