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On June 8, new Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku held a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office to announce the line-up for the new Cabinet (English Cabinet list available at: http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/kan/meibo/index_e.html )
In his press conference, Sengoku explained the rationale behind the Prime Minister’s selections, saying, “[Prime Minister] Kan has made his selections, both as Prime Minister and as party President, in the belief that we need to start afresh, and as professionals create an administration of totally clean politics in which governance is fully implemented.” Sengoku added, “I believe this is a young and fresh ‘Cabinet that loves to work’.”
Sengoku announced that the new Cabinet would continue the Hatoyama administration’s policy of prohibiting the Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau from responding to questions in the Diet, stating that he himself would be responsible for giving interpretations of laws and regulations. He said, “I am intending to respond to questions myself, with the assistance of the Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau.” He stated the reason for this, saying, “Interpretation of the Constitution inevitably takes on a political character. That is the nature of the Constitution, and I believe that the most appropriate way of doing things is for the Cabinet to present a responsible argument regarding the Constitution to the people and to the Diet.”
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