Noda hoping for Ozawa's support for consumption tax hike plan.

WASHINGTON, May 1 Kyodo

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday urged ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa to support the party's policy of raising the country's consumption tax.

Noda reiterated his call to Ozawa, a vocal opponent of the envisioned tax hike, in a bid to tap into the clout of the former Democratic Party of Japan leader, who was acquitted last week over a political funds scandal.

''Our party made a decision (on the tax hike) after lengthy discussions,'' Noda told reporters accompanying him on his U.S. trip. ''Ultimately, we want party members to follow the party's line.''

Noda, head of the Democratic Party of Japan, is aiming to pass a bill on the tax hike during the current Diet session through June.

In late March, the Cabinet approved the contentious bill to increase the current 5 percent sales tax rate in two stages, to 8 percent in April 2014 and to 10 percent in October 2015.

On the issue of Ozawa's party membership, DPJ executives intend to unfreeze Ozawa's membership sometime after the Golden Week holidays. His membership was suspended following his indictment in January 2011.

In view of the not-guilty verdict for Ozawa given on April 26, Noda said party executives will ''discuss it and make a decision.''

Noda indicated he will personally try to persuade Ozawa not to oppose the tax hike bill after Ozawa regains his membership.

Ozawa, who is credited with the DPJ's rise to power in 2009, heads the largest party faction, and his allies have followed him in opposing the tax hike plan.

The premier also has to deal with hostility from the main opposition parties, who have criticized his decision to retain Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka and transport minister Takeshi Maeda  despite censure motions against them.

Tanaka and Maeda were censured by the opposition-controlled upper house last month, but Noda reiterated he intends to keep them in his Cabinet, a move that has irked the opposition at a time when Noda needs their cooperation to achieve his tax hike goal.

Support from the opposition is essential for passage of any legislation in the divided Diet, where the ruling camp lacks a majority in the upper house.

Noda indicated he has no plan for now to extend the parliament session beyond June 21, saying it would not be smart to ''talk about extending it just before engaging in full-fledged discussions'' on the tax hike.

The premier also touched on the sensitive subject of whether or not to restart the two idled reactors, operated by Kansai Electric Power Co., in the town of Oi in Fukui Prefecture.

Noda said the restart of the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant will depend on local consent.

Since the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in March 2011, no Japanese reactors have resumed operation after being shut down chiefly for mandatory periodic checks, and the Oi reactors are front-runners in the government's process of resuming operations.