Thursday, May 29, 2008Kyodo News
A House of Representatives panel approved a bill Wednesday aimed at reforming the public servant system, including giving the Cabinet across-the-board management of personnel affairs involving senior ministry and agency officials.
The move came after the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition and the Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force, agreed earlier in the day to revise the original bill submitted by the government and seek the latest legislation's passage during the ongoing Diet session.
The revised bill, which the three parties jointly submitted to the Lower House Cabinet Committee on Wednesday, is expected to clear a Lower House plenary session Thursday and be sent to the opposition-controlled House of Councilors for deliberations.
The revised bill calls for creation of a Cabinet personnel bureau at the Cabinet Secretariat. Currently, each ministry controls such personnel affairs.
The revised bill, however, killed an earlier plan to set disciplinary rules on direct contact between politicians and bureaucrats to prevent collusion. The final version of the bill instead requires "documenting such contacts" and "ensuring disclosure" of such information.
Many lawmakers in both the ruling and opposition camps were against disciplinary steps, saying it would make it difficult for politicians to gather information from bureaucrats.
The revised bill was worked out by accepting the DPJ's idea in many aspects.
LDP Diet affairs chief Tadamori Oshima welcomed that the ruling and opposition parties were able to "find a common ground in the divided Diet."
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