The campaign to replace Ozawa Ichiro as DPJ president quickly turned into a race between Okada Katsuya and Hatoyama Yukio, who have until Sunday to convince the DPJ's upper and lower house members of their merits to serve as the face of the party in the forthcoming general election.Uesugi Takashi, writing in Shukan Daiyamondo, argues …
Tag: Ozawa resignation
How severe is the fallout from Ozawa’s fall?
Despite widespread expectations that he would not survive to lead the DPJ into this year's general election, Ozawa Ichiro's resignation is reverberating around the Japanese political system.Aso Taro, commenting on the Ozawa's resignation, claimed that he could not understand why Ozawa would resign now, two days before the debate scheduled between the party leaders. It …
Continue reading How severe is the fallout from Ozawa’s fall?
Now the Ozawa era is over
It appears that Ozawa Ichiro is finally tired of fighting for his political life.After weeks of circling the drain, of calls from members of his own party to resign or clarify his explanation of why his aide was wrongfully accused, Ozawa has decided to call it quits. He will not be resigning from the Diet, …
Ozawa, on top again
Ozawa Ichiro has granted an interview to Asahi (one of the papers he didn't single out for criticism in his "parting" remarks) in which he reviews the circumstances surrounding the meetings with Prime Minister Fukuda that resulted in his decision to resign, his plans for a general election campaign, and the DPJ's policy goals.With a …
Ozawa in charge
Ozawa Ichiro addressed a conference of the DPJ's Upper and Lower House members on Wednesday, where he spoke at length about the crisis that saw him resign from the leadership of the party only to reverse his decision days later.He was, of course, exceedingly apologetic in his remarks, and, I think, exceedingly forthright in explaining …
It’s Ozawa’s party now
After imploring Ozawa Ichiro to remain as head of the party, Mr. Ozawa has decided to embrace the party once again: "I want to give my best once more."I'm still not convinced that Mr. Ozawa — a bull in a china shop if I've ever seen one — is the man to walk the tightrope …
A thorny question
Does anyone else find it strange that the reaction of nearly all the DPJ's leaders to Ozawa Ichiro's decision to resign as head of the party was to beg Mr. Ozawa to stay?To my knowledge, not a single DPJ politician openly declared his intentions to succeed Mr. Ozawa, and both Kan Naoto and Okada Katsuya, …
The DPJ stares into the abyss
Learning of Mr. Ozawa's intention to resign while in Nagoya, Hatoyma Yukio said, "I have received it, but I cannot accept it." He subsequently returned to Tokyo to consult with Mr. Ozawa.The public sentiment among party leaders seems to be a desire for Mr. Ozawa to stay, but whether that desire stems from an appreciation …
The Ozawa era is over
It looks like Mr. Ozawa won't be fighting one more general election campaign after all.Facing outright chaos in the party due to the perception that he was willing to consider — even for a moment — a grand coalition with the LDP, Ozawa Ichiro, grand old man of Japanese politics, has announced his resignation as …
Tobias S. Harris 