Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa has secured a third two-year term as head of the No. 1 opposition as no one else ran against him in the party election. Mr. Ozawa will have a showdown with the successor to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in coming general elections. Mr. Ozawa said at a news conference: "I will end the administration centering on the Liberal Democratic Party and will realize 'people's lives first' politics. I will do my utmost, thinking that this is my last chance."

Despite his strong determination, the DPJ is at a disadvantage as far as media attention is concerned. Since no other contenders chose to run in the DPJ leader election, the media is focusing on the LDP presidential race in which five candidates are running. Thus Mr. Ozawa's task of presenting his vision of a future Japan that can grab the hearts of people has been made more difficult. He needs to express his ideas in a clear-cut manner so that people can instantly understand them. And his ideas must be sufficiently different from the policy line of the LDP.

Mr. Ozawa said if the DPJ wins in the general elections, its administration will strive to build a society that narrows economic gaps and provides equitable social conditions by changing the administrative system. To realize these goals, he mentioned unifying pension and medical insurance systems, using tax money to finance all of the "basic" portion of pensions, compensating farmers' income, creating a child allowance of ¥26,000 per month, and eliminating expressway tolls and the temporary surcharge on the gasoline tax, among other things.

Nearly ¥20 trillion may be needed to realize these measures. Mr. Ozawa said the necessary revenue sources can be secured by abolishing the vested interests of politicians and bureaucrats and ending the wasteful use of tax money. There is an urgent need for the DPJ to make its campaign pledges financially realistic. It should involve as many DPJ politicians as possible in the process, which will help unify and energize the party.