Defense Ministry floats internal reforms

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Defense Ministry has produced a set of proposals aimed at internal reform that would allow its operations to be managed by mixed units of personnel drawn from both civilian and uniformed staff.

The plans--presented Wednesday to a panel established by the Prime Minister's Office to deal with the reforms--said a series of scandals involving the ministry and Self-Defense Forces, including confidential information leaks and bribery, stemmed from "organizational problems."

The ministry cites five reasons for the scandals, including unclear lines of authority between the ministry's civilian and uniformed personnel, and different approaches to providing support to a defense minister.

Based on this, the ministry proposes that functions of administrative bureaus staffed by civilians, Ground Staff Office, Maritime Staff Office and Air Staff Office be split into three parts, which would be jointly managed by the ministry's civilian and uniformed personnel.

According to the proposals, the three functions are defense policymaking and planning, including public relations activities; operation of SDF units; and unified equipment procurement.

Under the reforms, the Joint Staff Office would become part of an office charged with handling the operation of SDF units, headed by the chief of the Joint Staff Office.

The proposals presented two plans: One to integrate all three functions within the Internal Bureau, and another to set up two new organizations, which--in addition to the bureau--would deal either with the operation of SDF units or the procurement of equipment. The draft left the final choice to the panel.

They also propose the abolition of the defense counselor system, the introduction of advisers to the defense minister, and the introduction of a defense council comprising the minister, vice minister and civilian and uniformed personnel from the ministry.

Ministry officials and members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have expressed concerns over private reform proposals put forward by Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba. As such, the ministry's draft proposal includes several ideas on the reorganization of the Internal Bureau and Joint Staff Office.

(May. 22, 2008)