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On November 2, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa held a press conference at party headquarters. He reaffirmed his intention to proceed toward the realisation of people-led governance by ensuring an amendment to the Diet Law would pass the Diet during the current session.
Ozawa referred to the report he had requested from the Congressional Forum for New Japan (21st Century Rincho) regarding ways to invigorate Diet debate. He pointed out that if the DPJ’s widely-supported assertion at the recent general election that the party “would aim for people-led governance” were to be reduced to its essence, it would amount to this one point. He emphasised that Diet reform would be indispensable in order for the DPJ to realise its stated aim, and went on to reaffirm his intention of aiming to pass an amendment of the Diet Law during the current Diet session, stating, “Reform of the Diet does not cost money. It will simply put the qualities of senior government officials to the test. We have received the report [from 21st Century Rincho] and I would like us to create [legislation] referring to its content that conforms to our party’s policies, and to obtain the understanding of the various political parties so that it can be passed.”
In relation to this, Ozawa responded to a reporter’s question asking whether prohibiting bureaucracy from making responses in the Diet, “would not in fact give an advantage to the opposition parties”, by saying that for that reason the opposition parties also ought to be in favour of the proposal, as well as stating, “The qualities of senior government officials will be put to the test.”
Furthermore, he referred to the proposal “Reforms Leading to Decentralised Petitioning/Lobbying” which had been drawn up at the DPJ’s Executive Committee on the same day. He commented, “Up until now, lobbying has been one of the major factors in the creation of a mode of governance dominated by self-interest that has linked Diet members and government ministries in various ways, a mode of governance involving collusion between politicians and bureaucrats. Our basic position is that we will work to eliminate these kinds of practices.” He stressed the significance of this, saying: “Ultimately, our stance is that if it is not a matter to be dealt with at national level, it should be dealt with at local level. This is the first step toward shifting to an autonomous and transparent way of doing things.” Ozawa added that these reforms would strengthen the position of Diet members as well as reinforcing the party’s base.
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