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On October 25, DPJ President Banri Kaieda spoke to a meeting of DPJ members of the House of Representatives held prior to the plenary session of the Diet scheduled for that day. He announced that the DPJ had submitted its proposal for a partial revision of the law concerning the disclosure of information held by government institutions." (proposed revision of the information disclosure law). He stated, "The DPJ takes the position that government information is the common property of the nation. At the same time, we have experience as the ruling party, and recognize that there is certain information amongst that possessed by the government that must be restricted, such as that relating to public security and safety, and diplomatic privilege." He added that members of the public had raised numerous issues relating to the legislation for protection of special secrets that had been approved by the cabinet that morning, and pointed out that thorough debate in the Diet was needed in order to clearly establish the answer to such issues as "What government information is to be treated as secret information?" "Will independent third-party checks be guaranteed?"
and "How long will information be restricted or will restriction continue indefinitely?"
Discussions of the legislation will start in the Special Committee on National Security in the House of Representatives from October 28. Kaieda commented on the three legislation proposals: the bill to establish a National Security Council, the bill concerning the protection of special secrets which is scheduled to submitted for debate in committee, and the DPJ proposal regarding information disclosure, saying, "We will ensure that sufficient debate takes place and protect the people's 'right to know'. We will continue to espouse the position that government information is the common property of the nation."
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