On March 1, the 515th meeting of the DPJ Standing Officers Council was held inside the Diet.

At the start of the meeting, Secretary General Katsuya Okada addressed members of the party executive, saying, “The budget has passed the House of Representatives. Deliberations were substantial both in terms of time and content.”

The following reports were made, (1) Secretary General Okada on the establishment of a operation room relating to recovery measures for the New Zealand earthquake, and on a “recovery measures request” issued by the DPJ to the government, (2) Diet Affairs Committee Chair Jun Azumi on the Diet schedule, (3) Policy Research Committee Chair Koichiro Gemba on the results of checks carried out by the DPJ’s private members’ bill management team, (4) Administration Committee Chair Katsuhiko Yokomitsu on the “registration of party members and supporters for 2011 (deadline extended) and the relocation of party branches.

Election Campaign Committee Chair Hajime Ishii made a proposal regarding candidates, both official and recommended, for the local elections, and following discussions this proposal was endorsed by the Standing Officers Council.

Finally, Okada reported that a proposal had been received from the DPJ Executive Committee regarding the application of party ethics regulations to Koichiro Watanabe and fifteen other DPJ Diet members. Following discussions, it was decided to (1) seek the opinion of the party ethnics committee regarding applying party ethics regulations to Watanabe and handing out a penalty of suspending his party membership for a six month period, and (2) applying party ethics regulations to the other fifteen Diet members aside from Watanabe, and issuing them with a severe reprimand in the name of the Standing Officers Council.