Ozawa launches new political party
Source: Agencies |
July 12, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A POWERFUL lawmaker who broke away from Japan's ruling party launched a new political group yesterday in a challenge to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's grip on power.
Ichiro Ozawa and 48 other lawmakers quit the Democratic Party of Japan last month in opposition to a sales tax hike pushed by Noda's government.
Ozawa, 70, was key to the party's rise to power in 2009 when it defeated the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
He has been a vocal critic of Noda's plan to double the sales tax to 10 percent by 2015, saying it breaks the ruling party's campaign promise to put "people's lives first." He adopted the phrase as the name of his new party, which he said will achieve that goal.
Ozawa said a tax hike as Japan recovers from last year's tsunami and nuclear disaster while coping with a prolonged economic slump only adds to the national crisis.
"We've launched the new party to return to the basics of 'people's lives first,'" he said after being selected party chief. "We will show the people policies that can help overcome their problems."
The new party also aims to reduce the country's reliance on nuclear energy -- a concern since the nuclear crisis.
Noda's party still controls a majority in the powerful lower house of Parliament, but the split will make it harder for him to achieve his goals.
Noda, who has been in office since September, has made the tax hike the centerpiece of his efforts to finance government programs as Japan's population rapidly ages.
Ichiro Ozawa and 48 other lawmakers quit the Democratic Party of Japan last month in opposition to a sales tax hike pushed by Noda's government.
Ozawa, 70, was key to the party's rise to power in 2009 when it defeated the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
He has been a vocal critic of Noda's plan to double the sales tax to 10 percent by 2015, saying it breaks the ruling party's campaign promise to put "people's lives first." He adopted the phrase as the name of his new party, which he said will achieve that goal.
Ozawa said a tax hike as Japan recovers from last year's tsunami and nuclear disaster while coping with a prolonged economic slump only adds to the national crisis.
"We've launched the new party to return to the basics of 'people's lives first,'" he said after being selected party chief. "We will show the people policies that can help overcome their problems."
The new party also aims to reduce the country's reliance on nuclear energy -- a concern since the nuclear crisis.
Noda's party still controls a majority in the powerful lower house of Parliament, but the split will make it harder for him to achieve his goals.
Noda, who has been in office since September, has made the tax hike the centerpiece of his efforts to finance government programs as Japan's population rapidly ages.
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