Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:I have a report concerning the Local Sovereignty Strategy Council that was held today for the first time under the administration of Prime Minister Noda, from 9:00am. After that, from 9:50am, a meeting of the Forum for Consultations between the National and Regional Governments was held. In the Local Sovereignty Strategy Council the Prime Minister announced his resolve to press forward with local sovereignty reforms. In particular, the Prime Minister announced his strong resolve concerning reforms of ministerial branch offices, indicating that he would be giving instructions to Cabinet ministers in ministerial discussions following the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, with a view to submitting a draft bill to the regular session of the Diet in 2012. In the Forum for Consultations between the National and Regional Governments, the budget requests for the fiscal 2012 budget and also for the fiscal 2011 third supplementary budget were covered and representatives from six local governments offered their opinions. In these meetings I understand therefore that it was reconfirmed that local sovereignty reforms are a priority policy issue for the administration of Prime Minister Noda. The Government will continue to listen carefully to the opinions of local governments and advance political-led reforms. For details, I believe that Parliamentary Secretary of Internal Affairs and Communications Fukuda will be giving a briefing.

Q&As

REPORTER:With regard to local sovereignty reforms, in his opening remarks to the meeting Prime Minister Noda himself touched upon the criticisms leveled at his Policy Speech. Would this suggest that he is concerned about these criticisms when attending the Local Sovereignty Strategy Council?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:I have heard indirectly about the comments made by local governments, and it appears that the members of both of the meetings seemed to be generally very pleased, or reassured, by what the Prime Minister said today.

(Abridged)

REPORTER:Today is the opening of the extraordinary Diet session and I believe that considerations have been taking place concerning the handling of the position of the Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, in terms of whether the position will be registered as a Special Advisor to the Government. Could you tell us what conclusion has been reached and the reason for such a conclusion?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:Since the opening of the regular session of the Diet in January 2010, the position of Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau has not been registered as a Special Advisor to the Government. This has been a source of discussion among the Government and the ruling parties and it has been decided to continue to not recognize the Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau as a Special Advisor to the Government in this session of the Diet. You are probably aware that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the past submitted legislation seeking the deregistration of the Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau as a Special Advisor to the Government, from the perspective of establishing political leadership. This bill was dropped from the previous ordinary session of the Diet, but considerations are still ongoing in the DPJ about how to realize political leadership. A decision will be made on the basis of such considerations.

(Abridged)

REPORTER:Part way through the previous extraordinary Diet session Minister Edano was prevailed upon to provide legal interpretation of laws and ordinances. What will happen in this extraordinary Diet session?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:I believe that Minister Edano will continue to engage in such duties.

(Abridged)