Japan's ruling party No. 2 Ichiro Ozawa is in the spotlight as a judicial review panel looks set to hand down a decision soon on whether he should be indicted over a funding scandal. Ozawa has denied wrongdoing and prosecutors decided in February not to charge him. But public suspicions have been a key factor behind the government's tumbling support rates ahead of an upper house election, expected in July, that the ruling Democratic Party must win to smooth policymaking. Following are some questions and answers about Ozawa's influence and why it matters. How much clout does ozawa have? Ozawa, 67, stepped down as leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) last May over a separate fund-raising scandal, but as party secretary-general he still helped engineer its victory in an August election that ended more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Ozawa, a one-time protege of Kakuei Tanaka – the father of Japan's modern pork-barrel politics – was a rising star in the LDP until 1993, when he bolted with dozens of other lawmakers. Using the campaigning skills he honed in the LDP, he has since worked to nurture a viable rival party. Last year's DPJ election win bolstered Ozawa's clout within the party, since many new lawmakers depended on him for advice. Some analysts, however, question the impact he had on the Democrats' landslide election win, saying the result had more to do with voter frustrations with the long-dominant LDP. What's negative about Ozawa's influence? Ozawa is widely seen as the power behind Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government and his image as an old-style backroom fixer has helped to erode support for the administration, now at around 30 percent due to voter doubts over the leader's ability to make tough decisions on the economy and diplomacy. Hatoyama's image as Ozawa's “puppet” dates back to last year, when Ozawa backed him in a party leadership race to beat a rival more popular with ordinary voters. While some analysts say speculation about Ozawa's influence over policy is exaggerated, the Japanese media has been rife with reports that Hatoyama has been catering to Ozawa's demands on matters from personnel to the budget. On Thursday, Hatoyama told reporters the government would rethink a plan to revise highway tolls that would result in some fees rising, after what Japanese media said was a demand by Ozawa to alter the proposal because it violated the party's campaign pledge to make expressways toll-free. Ozawa has also come out against revising the party's platform, despite worries that implementing pledges will further inflate Japan's huge debt. The perception that Ozawa is a rival power centre to Hatoyama and his cabinet has also hurt the Democrats' image with voters who have pinned hopes on the party to make policy formulation more efficient and transparent. Why do the democrats need him? Despite the threat Ozawa poses to voter support, he is seen as indispensable to the party because he helps make decisions others cannot. Ozawa last year helped persuade Hatoyama to drop a key campaign pledge so the government could limit spending in the budget and cap the expansion of Japan's huge public debt. Attempts to force Ozawa to quit could push him to defect with a band of other party lawmakers, sparking political confusion at a time when the party needs to focus on the upper house election. Ozawa's campaign expertise could help the party in the upper house vote, although some analysts say Ozawa's recent moves to lure farmers, unions and other interest groups could backfire by alienating independent voters, who have swung recent ballots. The Democrats hope to win an outright majority in the upper house election to break free of two vocal coalition partners who have complicated policy-making, causing concern among voters and investors who want to see the government focus on the economy.
