Kan Defeats Ozawa In Leadership Election

小沢一郎

Naoto Kan easily defeated Ichiro Ozawa by 721 to 491 points in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leadership election today.

Ozawa                                             Kan

Prime Minister Kan won a small majority among DPJ party lawmakers and was a convincing winner among local DPJ politicians and party members.

Ozawa's alleged involvement in a political funding scandal was likely to have told with disgruntled party members.

Japan's economy is still stalled as the yen hit a new 15-year high against the dollar today. Kan favors a rise in Japan's consumption tax, presently set at 5%, to help curb a Greek-style debt crisis.

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Ozawa To Run In DPJ Race

小沢一郎

The decision of Ichiro Ozawa to run in the upcoming DPJ leadership contest against Naoto Kan may split the ruling party, many political observers believe.

After receiving the backing of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Ozawa decided to enter the race against the incumbent Prime Minister, no doubt spurred by Kan's refusal to offer him a place in government.

A lingering money scandal seems likely to damage the 68-year-old's changes of taking the top job and an Ozawa win may not be popular with the majority of the Japanese electorate, though Ozawa's strong hand on the tiller could be welcomed by the business community, struggling with falling stock prices and the surge in the value of the yen.

Ozawa was in the news earlier this week for labeling Americans as "simple-minded" and "monocellular" in a speech to fellow lawmakers.

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