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2013/11/07
NSC legislation approved following revisions, additional resolutions
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On November 7, the government proposal for legal revisions to establish a National Security Council (NSC) was passed, after undergoing amendments, by a majority of both ruling and opposition party Diet members. The DPJ voted in favour of the revised legislation, since of the four amendments forming the backbone of a DPJ revision proposal submitted to the Special Committee on November 1, two had been adopted as proposed and two included as additional resolutions.
DPJ member of the House of Representatives, Vice Director-General of the International Department Yuichi Goto, made a speech in favour of the legislation prior to the vote. Goto commented on the basic stance of the DPJ regarding the establishment of an NSC, saying, “The national security environment surrounding our nation has become increasingly difficult in recent years. Considering such circumstances, we have been pointing out the necessity for a system to form a comprehensive national security strategy for gathering and analysing information relating to national security, and we have referred to the establishment of an NSC both in the National Defense Program Guidelines approved by the Cabinet when we were in power, and in our Manifesto for this summer’s House of Councillors election. Therefore, we are in favour of establishing an NSC, but since there is a risk that the government proposal will not function effectively, we have called for four amendments in order to create a more effective NSC.
Goto explained that the first proposed DPJ revision regarded the portion of the government proposal that called for various ministries to cooperate with providing information to the NSC, and stated that such cooperation should be clearly designated as obligatory. The second proposed revision related to the way in which the government proposal could be interpreted as requiring that all “important matters relating to national defence” be submitted to the NSC. The DPJ proposed that, in order to prevent the number of items discussed by the NSC from being increased unnecessarily, the criteria for submission should be limited, as currently, to “those matters considered necessary by the Prime Minister”. Through such a revision, civilian control would be upheld, and it would also continue to be possible for the Minister of Defense to make speedy decisions where necessary. These two points were included in a joint revision proposal submitted by the DPJ, LDP, New Komeito and the Japan Restoration Party.
The third revision proposed by the DPJ referred to the portion of the government proposal regarding the creation of a new post of Special Advisor to the Prime Minister responsible for national security. Goto said the DPJ suggested that “rather than appointing a Special Advisor, which would entail the creation of duplicate lines of communication, it would be preferable to integrate the chain of command, by for example establishing a new post of Vice Cabinet Secretary responsible for national security and crisis management.” With regard to this proposal, it had been decided to wait and see whether the structure contained in the government bill would function properly, and an additional resolution had been passed to “undertake continuous reviews from the perspective of mobility and effectiveness”.
The fourth proposed DPJ revision was to make the taking of minutes for the NSC obligatory. Goto said, “There will be cases where these should not be made public immediately, but at the very least we should preserve a written record.” With regard to this point, an additional resolution was passed, stating that “The taking of minutes at meetings and other proceedings will be considered, and the necessary measures required as a result of this implemented.”
Following the implementation of these revisions and additional resolutions, Goto stated that the DPJ “is in favour of the government proposal and proposed revisions in view of the need to establish an NSC, and put in place a structure where the Prime Minister’s Office can take the lead in engaging
in national security policy.”
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