Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

JAPANESE

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER: Regarding the sacking of three individuals, including the Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which was indicated by Minister Kaieda just this morning, people in both the ruling and opposition parties have questioned what will happen to the political responsibility, not only the responsibility of the administrative side. How do you see this related to the responsibility of the Prime Minister, the head of all political affairs?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First and foremost, Minister Kaieda said that he was "establishing a new structure in order to rejuvenate people's minds," but the mass media is using the term "sacked." Minister Kaieda has not used such language in his press conferences, and I heard no such phrase when I received report from him on August 2. In either case, however, having the politicians firmly bear responsibility for administrative affairs is truly one side of the coin when it comes to political leadership. I believe that it is politicians that should bear the ultimate responsibility for conventional energy policy, including nuclear energy-related administration.

REPORTER: From the perspective of taking ultimate responsibility, what do you believe the position of the Prime Minister should be in that context?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: By nature the term "responsibility" - or considering how responsibility is to be borne - is not a black and white issue.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I admit that Minister Kaieda never used the phrase "sack," but I do not have any idea what "rejuvenating people's minds" means. Since you have asked the ministries to refrain from replacing senior officials, it is now the rule to consult each individual case with the Prime Minister's Office in order to acquire approval, so I presume that these personnel changes acquired the understanding of the Prime Minister's Office. Why is it necessary to "rejuvenate people's minds?"

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As I said in this morning's press conference, I will announce the details and reasons when an official decision has actually been made.

REPORTER: Is it safe to say that the Prime Minister's Office has basically acknowledged this personnel change in accordance with its basic freeze in principle so far?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: At the very least, the Prime Minister and myself understand the change in the sense that we "acknowledge" it.

REPORTER: Does that mean that although you understand the reason for the change, the explanation will come from Minister Kaieda?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Not necessarily. This is personnel-related affair, and the matter which requires a Cabinet decision, so usually an announcement is made once the Cabinet decision has been made. In this case, however, I think that Minister Kaieda held a press conference because there were numerous news reports that were half inaccurate. Nevertheless, in regards to the details, I would like to abide by the conventional process of announcement.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: On a different note, is some form of policy going to be released tomorrow in relation to the establishment of the Nuclear Safety Agency?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: No decision has even been made on the establishment of the agency as of yet.

REPORTER: On a related note, it is being reported that at a meeting last night you voiced opposition to a proposal for making the potential agency an extra-ministerial bureau of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). Is there a reason that would make it unfavorable to have the agency be an extra-ministerial bureau of the MOE?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Even at yesterday's press conference, I clearly stated that the idea of making it an extra-ministerial bureau of the MOE is one of the options. The media was reporting that we are carrying out considerations based around such a concept, which itself is false. As I said yesterday, making the agency an extra-ministerial bureau is one option, but we have yet to narrow things down as we consider other proposals as well. This is a process of the Cabinet, or related ministers within the Cabinet, discussing and narrowing down the proposals at hand. Thus, I believe it is appropriate that I do not express my personal opinion so as to ensure that overall discussions run smoothly.

REPORTER: Related to that, what are your thoughts about a future schedule, also in terms of whether there will be another meeting between the related ministers today or tomorrow?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We held discussions yesterday that resembled a brainstorming exercise, and Minister Hosono is going to be organizing the points in consideration of our discussion. Also, there are various scheduling problems, such as, for instance, that the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology making a trip today - to the Monju Nuclear Power Station I believe - to observe a nuclear power station, or that tomorrow's Diet agenda has yet to be decided. For this reason we have not decided on what steps we will be taking at which stages. If possible I would like to gather all of the related ministers tomorrow for consultation. The Diet agenda is also going to be a factor in this.

REPORTER: I would like to confirm one thing. Since the other day you have said that when creating a new safety agency, the standard, or the concept, will be independence. When you or other related ministers refer to "independence," what are you seeking independence from?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I am not trying to prove or confirm the significance of independence, but at the very least, from the past course of events I can say that if the section that works to promote nuclear power, or its effective use, is not separated from the section that does the actual safety checks, then external parties will at least question the thoroughness of those safety checks. In that regard, I think the nuclear safety agency must remain independent from the section involved in the promotion, or use of nuclear power.

REPORTER: The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is a major issue and mission of the MOE, and in some ways that is related to energy policy. Taking this perspective into view, what do you think about compliance between the new agency being a part of the MOE and the principle of independence?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We are currently making various considerations including on what you have just said, and such a new, independent agency is one of the options.