Severely criticizing Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto for the "total failure" of his economic policies, Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa stressed Tuesday that now is the time for his party to play its role in rebuilding the nation's ailing economy.
"For that purpose, we should win the coming Upper House election, although our force in politics is relatively small," Ozawa said at the party's first national convention, held at a Tokyo hotel.
Japan needs a "structural revolution" to drastically change the country's postwar systems, Ozawa said. "To achieve the structural revolution, political parties, with a clear political ideology and policies, must stand up resolutely," Ozawa said.