|
On November 8, debate on the revised government proposal for a Japanese National Security Council (NSC) started in the plenary session of the House of Councillors. DPJ member of the House of Councillors, Vice Director-General Motohiro Oono took to the floor on behalf of the party.
Oono stated that the DPJ administration had overturned the old way of thinking dating from the Cold War era, and had set forth a new concept of national security that included dealing with issues in the area to the southwest of Japan. The party, he said, had also recognized the need to implement a flexible structure for conducting national strategy, referring to the establishment of an NSC in the National Defense Program Guidelines and the party Manifesto for this summer’s House of Councillors election. In contrast, he charged, following the launch of the Abe administration, the National Defense Program Guidelines had been frozen, and the government was charging ahead focusing just on the proposed structure without considering long-term strategy. Oono said, “It is not clear what position the Japanese NSC is going to occupy within our national security policy,” and “the NSC needs to operate in a functional and flexible way, but can it truly function like this?” He went on to question Prime Minister Abe on his opinion of the DPJ proposal, referring specifically to the following points: (1) Had he come to the conclusion that the NSC was necessary whatever the medium to long term strategy employed? (2) Would the NSC office staff members, said to number 50 or 60, be capable of taking responsibility for preparations that envisaged a situation like the Algerian [hostage crisis] for example? (3) What was the Prime Minister’s opinion of the DPJ proposal for establishing the new post of Deputy Cabinet Secretary responsible for national security and crisis management, rather than appointing a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister? (4) What was the Prime Minister’s opinion of the DPJ proposal that NSC meeting minutes should be kept in order for future verification, while paying attention to establishing an environment of open discussion?
|
