Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� March, 2004

The First Meeting of the Local Government System Research Council Monday, March 1, 2004 The meeting of the Local Government System Research Council was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. This meeting was the first General Meeting of the 28th Local Government System Research Council, and Mr. Ken Moroi was re-elected as the Chair from the previous 27th Council by mutual vote of the members. In his address, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, "From the perspective of further promoting the reform package of three issues, we need to further advance administrative and fiscal reforms of the local government in the direction of expanding the liberty and discretion of the locality. I would like you to conduct thorough discussions on themes such as introduction of a Do-Shu system and review of the Large-City System under the basic policy of 'leave to the localities what they can do,' thereby achieving concrete results of reform." Afterwards, Prime Minister Koizumi handed Chair Moroi the consultative document requesting a compilation of the modalities of the Do-Shu system, the Large-City System and structural reform of the administrative and fiscal systems of the local governments in response to the changing social and economic situations.