ニュース 2009/10/12 Ozawa and Koshiishi explain system for administration and ruling party policy decision-making system again On October 12, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa and Acting Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi held a press conference in Kofu city. At the press conference Ozawa once more explained the policy decision-making system for the administration and ruling party that was distributed to DPJ Diet members on September 18. In response to a reporter’s question, Ozawa said, “I am not the one making this proposal. I would like you to read the document thoroughly.” He went on to explain that the division of decision-making regarding policy had been decided in a meeting of the five senior party officials at the time, and added, “The original plan was formulated by those who are now members of the administration. I would like the media to communicate this fact accurately.” Ozawa explained that such a document would usually have been distributed in a general meeting of DPJ Diet members, but “I am not sure of the exact reason, but it was not distributed, and everyone was concerned about what was going to happen next, so since I had been appointed as Secretary General, it is true that I distributed the document that had been decided by the senior leadership.” He reiterated, “I would like to ask you not to report inaccuracies.” Ozawa went on to refer to the content of the proposal, saying, “Policy decisions regarding matters relating to general administration will be decided by the government, with Diet members’ opinions being heard in policy committees within each ministry. Matters relating to elections, political funding, and Diet administration are political issues, and so the party should be responsible for deciding such matters, with the prerequisite that everyone’s opinions are heard, and a division was made so that such issues will be carried out by private members’ bills issued by the party.” Ozawa continued, “The perception that the administration is not part of the ruling party is a strange one, but that was the old way of thinking [under the LDP]. This is our administration, so as the ruling party, the administration and the ruling party should be united. Under a parliamentary cabinet system, the administration and the Diet should not be at odds with each other, but the administration and the ruling party’s opinion should be opposed to that of the opposition. That is the difference with a presidential system and I would like you to understand that.” Koshiishi also expressed his concern at the media reporting, saying, “This [document] was regarding an issue that had been confirmed at a meeting of the five holders of the three senior posts [under the former party executive]…There are media reports stating that the Secretary General’s side arbitrarily affixed his name to the document, but I feel the methods used in such reporting to be regrettable.” At the same time, Koshiishi added, “We ourselves have to change our way of thinking from opposition to ruling party. We must carry out that change of mentality thoroughly.”