The Daily Yomiuri
The Democratic Party of Japan has gone too far in implementing its much-touted policy of taking the policymaking initiative from bureaucrats, Goshi Hosono, chairman of the party's Organization Committee, said Monday.
At the Yomuiri International Forum held at a hotel in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, Hosono, 38, said division chiefs and bureau directors at government ministries are beginning to find themselves with nothing to do, as Cabinet ministers, senior vice ministers and parliamentary secretaries--the top three tiers of lawmakers serving at government ministries--take on what had previously been their work.
As a result, lawmakers stationed at government offices, especially senior vice ministers and parliamentary secretaries, are finding it difficult to cope with their hectic schedule, Hosono said.
"We need to consider whether the current relationship between lawmakers and bureaucrats is appropriate. From now on, I believe there should be cases in which bureaucrats provide several options regarding policies to lawmakers, and those lawmakers then exercise their leadership [in choosing between them]," Hosono said.
Hosono spoke at the forum meeting titled "A Changing World and Japan--Change of Government and the Future Direction of Politics." The other panelists were Kozo Watanabe, former supreme adviser of the party, Tokyo University Prof. Takashi Mikuriya and Steven Vogel, professor at University of California, Berkeley.
At the forum, Watanabe said the party should not stick too closely to the manifesto it drew up for the House of Representatives election in August.
After saying he thinks the manifesto is very significant, Watanabe added that there are times when the government should not obsess about sticking to its every detail, especially regarding foreign policy, such as the realignment of U.S. forces stationed in Okinawa Prefecture.
"If we break promises made to another country just because the administration has changed, the relationship with that country will be lost," Watanabe said.
"I don't think it's best to implement every single item of the manifesto. The priorities considered most important change when a party moves from opposition to government," he added.
Watanabe also noted that a manifesto can become out of date as public opinion changes.
Meanwhile, Mikuriya said the government needs to achieve results in key policy areas within 100 days of its inauguration.
Mikuriya said he sees similarity in the current Hatoyama administration and that of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which was ambitious about reform, but lasted only about a year after failing to see them through.
"If the government fails to draw up a fixed road map this year [on important issues], the support rate for the current administration will drop dramatically," he said.
Vogel expressed views similar to Mikuriya's.
"What the Japanese people called for in the general election was a drastic change of the political system," Vogel said. "For now, they are satisfied with change itself. However, that satisfaction may not last after the next House of Councillors election [in summer 2010]."
Vogel said the DPJ needs to achieve results especially with its economic policies and welfare, saying voters will not remain patient for long.
(Nov. 10, 2009)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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