Ichiro Ozawa

Japanese: 小沢一郎 - おざわいちろう

Politician. Born in Iwate Prefecture. Graduated from Keio University. Elected to the House of Representatives as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1969 while attending Nihon University Graduate School. In 1985, he became Minister of Home Affairs and Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission in the second Nakasone Yasuhiro Cabinet. In 1989, he became Secretary-General of the LDP when the Kaifu Toshiki Cabinet was formed. In 1993, he left the LDP and formed the Shinseito with Hata Tsutomu and others, and brought together non-LDP forces to form the Hosokawa Morihiro Cabinet. After the collapse of the Hata administration in June 1994, he formed the Shinshinto in December in cooperation with the former Komeito, the Democratic Socialist Party, the Japan New Party, and others, and became Secretary-General. During this time, he mainly led political affairs behind the scenes, but in the 1995 open election for party leader, he became the second party leader (he was re-elected in December 1997). As internal conflicts and strife continued, with Haneda leaving the Shinshinto in 1996 and Hosokawa in 1997, Ozawa dissolved the Shinshinto in December 1997 and formed the Liberal Party with members of his faction in January 1998, becoming its first leader. In January 1999, the Liberal Party formed a coalition government with the LDP, but he refused to join the cabinet himself. In April 2000, the coalition collapsed, and the Liberal Party's opponents formed the Conservative Party. In September 2003, with the House of Representatives election looming, Ozawa, leader of the Liberal Party, agreed to a merger with Democratic Party leader Naoto Kan and joined the Democratic Party. In April 2006, he became the Democratic Party's leader. In the July 2007 House of Councillors election, the Democratic Party won 60 seats, becoming the largest party. In 2008, he was re-elected as the party leader without a vote, and showed a strong desire to take power in the next House of Representatives election. However, his public secretary was arrested on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Control Law, and he resigned as party leader in May 2009. As acting leader under his successor, Yukio Hatoyama, he led the Democratic Party to a landslide victory in the August 2009 House of Representatives general election, achieving the long-awaited change of power. He did not join the Yukio Hatoyama Cabinet that was inaugurated in September, but became Secretary-General of the Democratic Party. He was questioned by prosecutors in connection with his own political funds, and although the prosecutors decided not to indict him, the Prosecutor's Inquest Committee twice found him to be "worthy of indictment." In June 2010, during the second review by the Prosecutor's Inquest Committee, he resigned as Secretary-General along with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's resignation and the Democratic Party leader's resignation. He ran for the Democratic Party leadership election in September, running against Kan Naoto but losing. In January 2011, he was forcibly indicted by the Prosecutor's Inquest Committee on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Control Law (the Rikuzankai Incident). In response, the Democratic Party Standing Executive Committee decided to suspend Ozawa's party membership. In April 2012, the Tokyo District Court handed down a not guilty verdict. The suspension was then lifted, but the prosecutor's lawyer for the Prosecutor's Inquest Committee appealed the Tokyo District Court's decision, claiming that he was not satisfied with it. In November, the Tokyo High Court upheld the District Court's decision, and the prosecution gave up on the appeal, resulting in Ozawa's acquittal. However, during this trial, Ozawa's centripetal force within the Democratic Party steadily declined, and he was unable to exert his political power even during major events that shook postwar politics, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. In July 2012, in opposition to the Noda Cabinet's consumption tax increase, he finally left the Democratic Party, leading the Ozawa group, and founded a new party, ``People's Livelihood First,'' with the slogan ``Abandoning nuclear power'' and opposing the consumption tax increase. Furthermore, in November, Ozawa joined the movement of Shiga Prefecture Governor Kada Yukiko, who advocates phasing out nuclear power, to form the Japan Future Party, and merged ``People's Livelihood First'' with this party, and ran in the December 2012 House of Representatives election as the Japan Future Party. However, nuclear power was not made an issue, and combined with a lack of preparation for the election, the result was a crushing defeat, and the old ``People's Livelihood First'' party lost a large number of seats. In response to this result, Kata left the party and formed the New Japan Future Party, while Ozawa and others renamed the party "Your Life Party" with Ozawa becoming its representative. In the December 2012 House of Representatives election, the LDP won a landslide victory, regaining power after just over three years, while the Democratic Party suffered a major defeat, and new parties such as the Japan Restoration Party and Your Party made great strides. This was a double political setback for Ozawa. In the December 2014 House of Representatives election, the Your Life Party only had two candidates elected, meaning it no longer had the qualifications to be a political party in the Diet. Ozawa merged with independent Senator Yamamoto Taro, changed the name to "Your Life Party and Yamamoto Taro and Friends" (represented by Ozawa Ichiro), and became eligible to receive political party subsidies.
→ Related topics Katsuya Okada | Yukiko Kata | Naoto Kan Cabinet | Yoshihiko Noda | Yoshihiko Noda Cabinet | Yukio Hatoyama | Yukio Hatoyama Cabinet | Goshi Hosono

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

政治家。岩手県生れ。慶大卒。日大大学院在学の1969年，自由民主党より衆議院議員に当選。1985年第２次中曾根康弘内閣自治大臣兼国家公安委員会委員長。1989年海部俊樹内閣発足に伴い自民党幹事長に就任。1993年自民党を離党し，羽田孜(つとむ)らと新生党を結成，非自民党勢力を結集して細川護煕(もりひろ)内閣を誕生させた。1994年６月羽田政権の崩壊後，旧公明党，民社党，日本新党などと連携し12月に新進党を結成し幹事長となる。この間もっぱら裏舞台で政局を主導してきたが，1995年党首公開選挙で第２代党首となる（1997年12月再選）。1996年羽田，1997年細川が新進党を離党するなど，党内対立，内紛が続いたため，1997年12月新進党解党に踏み切り，1998年１月小沢派で固めた自由党を結成，初代党首となる。自由党は1999年１月自由民主党と連立政権を組んだが，自らの入閣は固辞した。2000年４月には連立が破綻し，自由党の反対派は保守党を結成した。2003年９月，衆議院選挙を目前にして自由党の小沢党首は民主党の菅直人代表と合併に同意し，民主党に加わった。2006年４月，民主党代表となる。2007年７月の参院選挙で民主党は60議席を獲得，第一党となり，2008年無投票で代表再選，次回衆議院選挙での政権交代に強い意欲をみせていたが，政治資金規制法違反の疑惑で公設秘書が逮捕され，2009年５月代表を辞任。後継の鳩山由紀夫代表のもとで代表代行として，2009年８月の衆議院総選挙で民主党を大勝に導き，念願の政権交代を果たした。９月に発足した鳩山由紀夫内閣には入閣せず，民主党幹事長に就任。自らの政治資金に関連して検察の事情聴取を受け，検察は不起訴としたが，検察審査会が２度にわたって〈起訴相当〉とした。検察審査会の２度目の審査中の2010年６月，鳩山由紀夫首相の辞任・民主党代表辞任とともに自らも幹事長を辞任した。９月の民主党代表選挙に立候補，菅直人と争ったが敗れた。2011年１月，政治資金規制法違反容疑（陸山会事件）で検察審査会によって強制起訴された。これを受けて民主党常任幹事会は，小沢の〈党員資格停止〉を決定した。2012年４月，東京地裁は無罪判決を示した。これを受けて〈党員資格停止〉は解除されたが，検察審査会の検察担当弁護士は東京地裁の判決を不服として控訴。11月東京高裁は地裁判決を支持，検察は控訴を断念して無罪が確定した。しかしこの裁判の間に民主党内の小沢の求心力は確実に低下，東日本大震災・福島第一原発事故という戦後政治を揺るがす大事件に際しても小沢は政治力を発揮することができず，2012年７月，野田内閣の消費税増税に反対して，小沢グループを率いて，ついに民主党を離党，新たに，脱原発・消費税増税反対をかかげて，〈国民の生活が第一〉を結党した。さらに小沢は，11月，卒原発を提唱する嘉田由紀子滋賀県知事が日本未来の党を結成する動きに同調して，〈国民の生活が第一〉をこれに合流させ，日本未来の党として，2012年12月の衆議院選挙に臨んだ。しかし，原発は争点化せず，選挙の準備不足も重なって結果は惨敗に終わり，旧〈国民の生活が第一〉は議席を大きく減らした。この結果を受けて嘉田は離党し新・日本未来の党を結成，小沢らは〈生活の党〉に党名を改称し小沢が代表に就任した。2012年12月の衆議院選挙では，自民党が大勝，わずか３年余で再び政権を奪還，民主党は大敗，日本維新の会やみんなの党といった新党が躍進した。小沢にとって二重の政治的挫折となった。2014年12月の衆議院選挙で生活の党は２名の当選者しか出せず，国会における政党要件を失うことになり，小沢は無所属の山本太郎参院議員と合流し，名称を〈生活の党と山本太郎となかまたち〉（代表小沢一郎）と変更，政党交付金受領可能となった。
→関連項目岡田克也｜嘉田由紀子｜菅直人内閣｜野田佳彦｜野田佳彦内閣｜鳩山由紀夫｜鳩山由紀夫内閣｜細野豪志

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