Word: ozawa
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Winning election as president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) may have seemed like cause for jubilation. But after landing the job two weeks ago, Ichiro Ozawa, 63, now faces a historic challenge: For the DPJ to become a relevant political force, he must reinvent the party he helped to create. If Ozawa succeeds, it will have a crucial impact on the future of democracy in Japan...
...When Ozawa's Liberal Party joined forces with the DPJ in 2003, many believed that Japan's opposition had finally gained the critical mass it needed to challenge the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has had a chokehold on power for nearly half a century. Commentators boldly predicted that true two-party politics had finally arrived in Japan. They were wrong. The DPJ has not yet proven to be a political equal of the LDP. It has consistently missed opportunities, failed to define a coherent message, staked its reputation on trivial issues and repeatedly imploded amid avoidable public embarrassments. Seiji...
...Once an LDP member himself, Ozawa's 37 years in national politics demonstrate that he is a survivor. He has reigned for years as one of the country's most prominent political outsiders. In 1993, he engineered the formation of the only non-LDP government in Japan's postwar history (though it crumbled in less than a year). In 1993, he wrote Blueprint for a New Japan, a book espousing the "normal nation" theory?now very much in vogue?asserting that Japan needs to develop the political, military and diplomatic power commensurate with its economic might in order to become...
...held important positions throughout most of his career is no accident?it's the result of careful planning and lots of backroom dealmaking. The ability to create stable alliances, avoid alienating former and future supporters and adjust strategies as circumstances require are essential traits of a strong political leader. Ozawa has all of these skills. In taking over the DPJ, his willingness to retain members of Maehara's executive team and appoint another former party president, Naoto Kan, as acting president are smart moves that preserve leadership continuity and keep the DPJ's younger members energized by letting them occupy...
...make the party viable, Ozawa has more serious work to do than maintain unity and continuity. He must now transform the DPJ from an organization with a very large and fractured platform into a focused campaign-victory juggernaut. Like Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who set out to reinvigorate the LDP by destroying it, Ozawa may need to demolish his party to make it competitive. Koizumi showed that political campaigns can be more than party functionaries reciting platitudes or minivans packed with white-gloved young women waving at pedestrians. He proved that policy can be made and victories achieved not through...