61852    While being questioned about the strong suggestion that the LDP was playing party politics to get cozy with fellow coalition parties such as the Social Democratic Party and Sakigake, we applauded the LDP decision to attempt to clearly define the opposite views while the political reorganization without opposite views is in progress.

61853    But words and phrases were revised again and again, with those for constitutional amendment regaining ground and the advocates of the current constitution fighting back, and ultimately the report ended up with elusive wording as a compromise between the arguments from the two opposing sides.

61854    Consequently, we are totally at a loss as to how the LDP will deal with the constitutional debate.

61855    Such ambiguity is by and large in common with the three basic statements and party reform.

61856    In party reform, the elimination of factions, which had been the never-ending issue with the party, was forced through and all of the factions put down their signs and closed down their offices last December.

61857    However, as "the policy-study groups and social groups will not be considered as factions," policy-study groups have sprouted like mushrooms.

61858    They are nothing but factions remodeled into policy-study groups and their activities and functions are exactly the same as the factions before them.

61859    We have to make sure it to be strongly pointed out that the specific measures to thoroughly clean up the party's money-oriented and corrupt status and to reinforce the self-purification capability that President Kono had urged have been practically left untouched.

61860    In general, now that they have returned to power, the sense of crisis that hung over the party when it fell to the status of opposition party and the excitement over the rejuvenation of the party have all but evaporated, as if to say all is forgotten once the danger has passed.

61861    What has become more glaring instead is the resurgence of the old LDP with its obsession to keep power, a full come-back of those lobbyist-Diet members who were exposed during the compilation of the budget, wriggling at the faction level in anticipation of the impending expiration of the prime minister's term of office in September, and other concerned issues.

61862    What on earth has the LDP learned from its fall to the status of opposition party?

61863    If what it learned was just the gratefulness of being in power, it is obvious that arrogance and corruption will be cropping up like mushrooms again.

61864    The LDP must strictly recognize the current situation of the party, go back to square one where they pledged for rejuvenation and reform, and make the convention a forum to thoroughly examine these issues.

61865    As the rescue operation goes on, new casualties are being discovered and the actual damage has been turning out to be ever greater.

61866    There have been an incredible number of deaths, injured and missing persons.