Asia-Pacific

Ozawa willing to speak to prosecutors over land purchase

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-19 19:20

TOKYO: Ichiro Ozawa, the secretary general of the governing Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), is willing to speak to prosecutors over an undeclared purchase of land in Tokyo' s Sendagaya Ward in 2004 using 400 million yen ($4.4 million) of money from the politician, according to local media reports on Tuesday.

The purchase has already led to the arrests of two former and one current aid of Ozawa, a master political strategist, and sent approval ratings for the government plummeting.

A source cited by Kyodo News said on Tuesday that Ozawa "seemed to be ready to submit to questioning from an early stage." But added, "preparations are necessary" before he speaks to prosecutors.

Polls released on Monday showed the public is deeply unhappy with Ozawa's actions so far concerning the land purchase, with 73. 3 percent of respondents to a Kyodo survey saying that he should step down to take responsibility for the issue.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said, "Ozawa should decide whether or not to undergo questioning on his own. He should come to a conclusion using his own discretion."

Prosecutors searched the offices of construction companies in Iwate Prefecture, which Ozawa represents in parliament, looking for evidence of payments made to the politician in connection with the building of a dam in the area.

Ozawa is believed to have considerable influence on which companies are given contracts in the prefecture, and Mizutani Construction Co. has admitted that it handed 50 million yen (US$550,000) to one of the politician's aides in order to gain favor on an Iwate dam contract.

In a related incident, on Tuesday investigators announced that what appear to be 9 mm bullets had been sent to the offices of both TV Asahi Corp. and the DPJ with letters demanding the resignation of Ozawa. Police said they are investigating the matter.

Last week, a man was apprehended outside Ozawa's house brandishing what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail and carrying the Japanese flag.

Accusations of financial mismanagement have dogged the DPJ in recent months and threaten to derail the party's plan to gain an absolute majority in parliament in an upcoming upper house election.