Tokyo: Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Sunday
that while Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro
Ozawa has political responsibility for a funds scandal that
has led to the indictment of two former and one current
aide, the premier will not seek his resignation from the
ruling party's Number 2 post.
"I think that he (Ozawa) certainly has responsibility,"
Hatoyama said during a House of Representatives Budget
Committee session.
But the 62-year-old premier also said later that he has
no intention "at present" of discharging Ozawa from his
current post.
This afternoon, Hatoyama, president of the DPJ, had a
meeting with Ozawa at his office, in which it is likely the
two confirmed that the 67-year-old Ozawa should keep his job
despite weekend public polls showing many voters think he
should leave the post of secretary general.
Although prosecutors announced their decision Thursday
not to indict Ozawa over the scandal, opposition lawmakers
have been calling for him to take responsibility for the
indictments of the three aides.
Some in the DPJ-led coalition also began voicing concerns
over the repercussions of the scandal on the government's
support ratings.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 08, 2010, 20:47