7. Government and the Bureaucracy

1. Promoting fiscal structural reforms

The Democratic Party of Japan will take the following actions to thoroughly eradicate the waste of taxpayers窶 money: (1) reduction of the cost of public works projects through rectification of contracting procedures and the elimination of bid rigging and 窶彗makudari窶 (golden parachuting) re-employment of retiring bureaucrats; (2) efficient utilization of taxes through the implementation of a rigorous decentralization program (3) the reduction of total personnel expenses for national civil servants; and, (4) the abolition, in principle, of all special public corporations and independent administrative institutions. Furthermore, waste shall be eradicated through the general abolition of all special accounts or their integration into the government窶冱 general account. All surplus funds contained in the special accounts will be used to promote fiscal reconstruction.

One of the obstacles to the achievement of sound fiscal conditions is the central bureaucracy窶冱 budget system that features such practices as 窶徭ectionalism窶 and 窶徘revious-year-based budgeting.窶 The Democratic Party of Japan will change the budget process as follows. The Prime Minister窶冱 Office will establish basic budgetary policies, including priority spending areas, the general framework of the budgets for individual ministries and agencies, and decisions on the abolition of unnecessary projects. Based on these policies, politicians will form groups corresponding to individual ministries and agencies to formulate their budgets.

A 窶廛ebt Management Agency窶 will be created to manage and to steadily reduce the government窶冱 enormous debt.

Through the implementation of these reforms, a surplus will be achieved in the basic fiscal balance of the central and local governments by fiscal 2011, and the GDP ratio of the government窶冱 outstanding debt will be steadily reduced.

2. Elimination of 窶彗makudari,窶 and elimination of public officials involvement in bid rigging

The Democratic Party of Japan will thoroughly eradicate 窶彗makudari窶 (golden parachuting) arrangements for retiring public officers, which set the stage for the waste of taxpayers窶 money through such practices as public officials窶 involvement in bid rigging and discretionary contracts. The Democratic Party of Japan submitted the 窶廝ill for the Eradication of Amakudari窶 to the 166th ordinary session of the Diet in 2007, the main features of which are as follows: (1) termination of early retirement practices, and ban on the involvement of central government ministries and agencies in post-retirement placement of officers; which are a cause of 窶彗makudari窶 (2) extension of the period of the ban on 窶彗makudari窶 re-employment to five years after retirement; (3) restriction on re-employment in private companies, as well as special public corporations, independent administrative institutions and public service corporations; (4) mandatory reporting of re-employment of government administrators and staff for a ten-year period after retirement; (5) lobbying of current government employees by retired employees to be made a punishable offense; (6) introduction of new restrictions on 窶彗makudari窶 by directors of special public corporations and other entities paralleling similar bans applicable to national civil servants; and, (7) five-year post-retirement ban on 窶彗makudari窶 re-employment of local civil servants in private companies with close ties to the administrative entities where the local civil servant was previously working.ﾂ?ﾂ?

The Democratic Party of Japan will fundamentally revise the Act Concerning Elimination and Prevention of Involvement in Bid Rigging Etc. In addition to measures for the prevention of bid rigging, the scope of the application of the law will be extended to include retired civil servants in order to prevent bid rigging activities at corporations and other entities where they have been re-employed. Ministries, agencies and other government bodies served with rectification orders by the Fair Trade Commission will be obligated to report the results of their investigations to the Diet and other bodies. It will be required that an independent investigative committee be formed to investigate each case. To facilitate the discovery of bid rigging, the Antimonopoly Act will be revised to reduce the penalties applicable to enterprises that voluntarily come forward to report their participation in bid rigging.

3. Reform of special public corporations and independent administrative institutions

Special public corporations, independent administrative institutions and other entities pose many problems, such as the fact that they are engaged in inefficient operations while using government subsidies and allocations. They also serve as receptacles for the 窶彗makudari窶 re-employment of bureaucrats. All special public corporations, independent administrative institutions and the special accounts that pertain to these will be subjected to a zero-base review on the basic assumption that they will be abolished. Operations that can be handled by the private sector will be privatized, and operations that need to remain in the public sector will be directly undertaken by the government. Public service corporations that enjoy operational monopolies in exchange for accepting 窶彗makudari窶 bureaucrats and which effectively function as extra-governmental organizations of government ministries and agencies will be abolished. The following actions will be taken to change the structural tendencies of independent administrative institutions to waste taxpayers窶 money: (1) the members of ministerial and agency committees that evaluate independent administrative institutions and the officers of independent administrative institutions will be given greater autonomy (the number of members who are former civil servants will be restricted); (2) appointment of heads of independent administrative institutions based on an open application system; (3) extension of the scope of independent administrative institutions subject to audit by accounting auditors; and, (4) mandatory assessment of the assets of independent administrative institutions undergoing mergers and integration.

4. Fairness in government contracts

It was revealed in 2006 that discretionary contracts accounted for more than 90 percent of all contracts concluded between the government and those corporations that accepted the 窶彗makudari窶 re-employment of retired executive bureaucrats of the central government ministries and agencies, and which received more than 10 million yen in government allocations during fiscal 2004. As seen in these figures, 窶彗makudari窶 provides the backdrop for the abuse of discretionary contracts. This situation is made possible by the fact that the government is not obligated to explain the 窶彗makudari窶 status of its counterparties, nor the reasons for choosing to use discretionary contracts and designated bidding. The Democratic Party of Japan has submitted the 窶廝ill Concerning Transparency in Discretionary Contracts窶 with the purpose of rectifying the contracts entered into by the government and its agencies. The main features of the bill are as follows: (1) mandatory full disclosure concerning discretionary contracts and designated bidding; (2) application of rigorous rules to discretionary contracts and designated bidding; and, (3) exclusion of the procurement of IT products from long-term standing contracts.

5. Fundamental reform of the civil service

To achieve true administrative reform, the present system of national and local governments must be thoroughly reviewed and the process of decentralization pushed forward. The Democratic Party of Japan will establish an 窶廣dministrative Reform Council窶 empowered to order ministries, agencies and local governments to submit necessary information on related matters. The Administrative Reform Council will undertake an intensive review of administrative functions from the perspective of dramatically reducing the functions of the central government and transferring a majority of the administrative functions to local governments. The structure and personnel of central government agencies will be fundamentally revised based on the recommendations of the Administrative Reform Meeting. Following a bold program for decentralization, the total number of national civil servants will be significantly reduced. This will allow total personnel expenses for national civil servants to be reduced by more than 20 percent within three years. To gain the support and understanding of the people as taxpayers, information regarding the personnel expenses of adjunct national civil servants and the actual state of their employment will be disclosed.

Fundamental labour rights comprise the essential rights of workers, and important matters pertaining to terms of employment must not be determined in the absence of the workers affected. However, Japanese laws and practices effectively limit the fundamental labour rights of civil servants. Since 1965, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has repeatedly issued strongly worded recommendations indicating that the conditions prevailing in Japan are in violation of the ILO Treaty. The Democratic Party of Japan will restore the fundamental labour rights of civil servants, allowing for exceptions only in cases requiring special treatment in light of the specific characteristics of the work performed by civil servants. As a result of these changes, the terms of employment of civil servants will be determined through negotiations, as in the case of private sector employees. Subsequently, a guaranteed employment system based on the Labour Standards Law and its legal precedents will be introduced for civil servants occupying general positions.

A cabinet minister will be appointed to be in charge of unified personnel management for the entire government, and to function as the employer. This minister will be given the responsibility to negotiate with labour unions. Furthermore, a personnel management system will be adopted to facilitate merit and achievement based remuneration of civil servants.

6. Abolition of state subsidies to local government, and promotion of decentralization

The specific subsidies that flow from the central government to local governments provide the means by which the central bureaucracy rules the outlying regions of the country. These subsidies are also the hotbed for various vested interests. As the first step toward the realization of true local autonomy, all specific subsidies will be abolished in principle and direct local access to fiscal resources will be ensured. The personnel expenses and other expenses of national and local civil servants working on subsidies and subsidy programs will be drastically reduced, contributing to the recovery of fiscal soundness.

The authority and fiscal resources needed for local administration will be fully transferred to local governments. Consequently, members of the Diet and national civil servants will be able to concentrate on national-level work and functions. Basic autonomous government units will be made the foundation of a thoroughly decentralized nation. In the future, the country will be divided into a total of about 300 highly diverse basic autonomous government units. All administrative services related to the daily life of citizens, and all other possible administrative functions will be transferred to these basic autonomous government units. The authority and fiscal resources needed to carry out these functions will also be extensively delegated to these basic units.

The role of functions of the central government will be limited to such areas as foreign relations, defense, crisis management, comprehensive national security including public safety, food and energy, final responsibility for education and social security, currency, establishment of market economy, and large-scale national projects.

A massive transfer of administrative functions from the central government to the prefectures will be completed over a period of five to ten years. Additionally, approximately one-half of the administrative functions currently performed by prefectural governments will be transferred to the basic autonomous government unit. As a result, the functions of the central and prefectural governments will be dramatically reduced, while the functions of the basic autonomous government unit will be dramatically increased.ﾂ?ﾂ?ﾂ?ﾂ?ﾂ?ﾂ?ﾂ?ﾂ?ﾂ?ﾂ?

7. Revitalization and strengthening of communities, and support for NPO activities

The age when government was able to satisfy all the needs of residents has ended. To bolster the decentralized society, it will be necessary to activate the functions of communities within the basic autonomous government unit. The Democratic Party of Japan aims to create a society in which residents are not merely the recipients of public services, but instead are active supporters of autonomy and self-government as providers and formulators of public services.

NPOs and other entities of the non-profit sector are fast becoming the core units of activity in local communities. As such, the nurturing and development of the non-profit sector stands today as an urgent and important challenge. Parallel to the reform of the system of public service corporations, the Democratic Party of Japan will continue to work toward firmly establishing the activities of such designated non-profit organizations throughout society. The eligibility requirements of the current system of tax benefits for designated non-profit organizations are too stringent. As a result, only about 60 organizations out of a total 31,000 organizations are currently eligible. The Democratic Party of Japan will significantly ease the eligibility requirements. In addition, tax deductions for contributions will be significantly expanded.

8. Promoting political reform, including transparency of office expenses

The following rules will be applied to office and political activities expenditures exceeding 10,000 yen made by political funds management organizations and political organizations: (1) mandatory collection and filing of receipts covering all such expenditures; attachment of receipts and entry of description of expenditures in political funds report; and, (2) extension of the period during which such receipts must be kept by political organizations to five years from the current three years. The Democratic Party of Japan has submitted a bill for the elimination of political corruption to include provisions against indirect contributions, mediation and influence peddling by politicians, and other wrongful acts.ﾂ?ﾂ?

9. Reducing the number of Diet members by more than 10 percent

In order to have elections that can make a change of government possible, greater emphasis must be placed on single-seat electoral districts. In view of Japan窶冱 very severe fiscal conditions, members of Diet should take the lead in achieving greater efficiency. From these perspectives, the Democratic Party of Japan proposes to eliminate 80 seats out of a total of 180 proportional-representation seats in the Lower House. Related provisions are contained in the 窶廝ill for the Revision of the Public Offices Election Law窶 submitted to the Diet by the Democratic Party of Japan.