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Japan opposition hit by scandal Japan opposition hit by scandal
(about 3 hours later)
Japan's opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, whose party is favourite to win elections this year, has dismissed calls for his resignation.Japan's opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, whose party is favourite to win elections this year, has dismissed calls for his resignation.
Mr Ozawa was speaking the day after a close aide, Takanori Okubo, was arrested in a donations scandal.Mr Ozawa was speaking the day after a close aide, Takanori Okubo, was arrested in a donations scandal.
Mr Ozawa said neither he nor his aide had done anything wrong.Mr Ozawa said neither he nor his aide had done anything wrong.
The opposition has been widely tipped to win elections which must be called by September 10, as the government struggles to solve economic woes. The opposition has been widely tipped to win elections that must be called by 10 September, as the government struggles to solve economic woes.
"I don't have anything to feel guilty about, and my aide acted legally based on the law controlling political funds," Mr Ozawa, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) told a news conference. Victory would end more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Taro Aso.
"I don't have anything to feel guilty about, and my aide acted legally based on the law controlling political funds," Mr Ozawa, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), told a news conference.
Asked whether he planned to resign, he replied: "I'm not taking any action because of this matter."Asked whether he planned to resign, he replied: "I'm not taking any action because of this matter."
"It is impossible in a normal democratic country that the political powers carry out this kind of unfair investigation," he added. He described the investigation as "unfair", saying: "I have reported political funds quite openly, so I don't understand at all why the arrest and the probe occurred."
"As I have repeatedly said, we have done nothing that we must feel guilty about. I have reported political funds quite openly, so I don't understand at all why the arrest and the probe occurred."
Mr Ozawa has offered to resign before, when his party disagreed over policy towards Afghanistan in 2007, but he was begged to stay.
Political paralysisPolitical paralysis
Mr Okubo was arrested on Tuesday on charges of receiving illegal political donations from a construction company. Takanori Okubo was arrested on Tuesday on charges of receiving illegal political donations from a construction company.
Tokyo prosecutors allege that Ozawa's political funding organization, Rikuzankai, received 21 million yen ($216,000) in illegal donations between 2003-07 from two company executives at the scandal-tainted construction firm Nishimatsu Construction Company Limited. The two executives were also arrested Tuesday. Tokyo prosecutors allege that Mr Ozawa's political funding organization, Rikuzankai, received 21m yen ($216,000) in illegal donations between 2003-07 from two company executives at the scandal-tainted construction firm Nishimatsu Construction Company Limited.
The two executives were also arrested on Tuesday.
Under Japanese law, companies can donate money to political parties but not to individual politicians or their fund-raising groups.Under Japanese law, companies can donate money to political parties but not to individual politicians or their fund-raising groups.
Prime Minister Taro Aso, Japan's third leader in two years, and his long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party are battling some of the lowest-ever popularity figures, after ruling Japan for almost 50 years. Opinion polls suggest Prime Minister Taro Aso has the support of fewer than one in 10 people, as the economy sinks in its sharpest recession for decades.
Recent paralysis in parliament has stalled government stimulus efforts to get Japan out of its worst recession since World War Two.
Mr Ozawa, whose image is a mixture of reformer and backroom fixer, was a former leading figure in the LDP but bolted the party in 1993 and helped to briefly oust it.