The heads of three opposition parties staged a public rally Oct. 8 outside Shimbashi Station in Tokyo, calling for support for their Diet boycott over delays in summoning oil wholesaler Junichi Izui to testify in the Diet.Shinshinto, the Democratic Party of Japan and Taiyo Party boycotted the opening session Oct. 7 of the Lower House Budget Committee, demanding that the Liberal Democratic Party set a date for Izui to be summoned over his alleged donations to key members of the LDP. The boycott halted Diet business Oct. 8.Speaking from the top of a van, Ichiro Ozawa from Shinshinto, Naoto Kan from the DPJ and Tsutomu Hata from the Taiyo Party told crowds that restoring public trust by forcing Izui to testify is their top priority. "The LDP should clear itself of suspicion by summoning Izui to the Diet," Ozawa said "Unless public trust is recovered, Hashimoto cannot implement his major reforms."Kan said the Izui issue represents the problem of money politics and the necessity of implementing genuine political reforms. As some newspapers have started criticizing their strategy of boycotting Diet sessions, the three leaders reiterated that they are not preventing Diet deliberations willingly, and that they are ready to attend the sessions if a date for Izui's testimony is set.
