Sadakazu Tanigaki, fresh from victory in the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, tried to pick a fight Thursday with the Democratic Party of Japan over its handling of the controversial Yamba Dam project in Gunma Prefecture.
The former finance minister said the DPJ is ignoring established procedure and acting in a heavy-handed fashion to stop the decades-long public works project.
"It took a long time to get this far and it affects the lives of the local residents," Tanigaki said in a group interview. "There is a major problem with stopping the construction just because it says so in the party's manifesto."