Time schedule for administrative reform to be worked out

TOKYO, Feb. 2 Kyodo -
The government decided to work out a time schedule Tuesday to integrate some
functions of the National Personnel Authority into a new body called the
Cabinet personnel and administrative management bureau, government sources said
Monday.
The move, agreed on by Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura and state
minister Akira Amari, is expected to face opposition from the National
Personnel Authority, an independent administrative commission formed by three
commissioners which is in charge of management of civil servants.
The authority opposes the proposal, saying it should not transfer its role to
serve as a ''neutral and fair third-party institution'' to advise the prime
minister and the Diet on matters concerning national government employees who
do not have the right to strike or bargain.
Prime Minister Taro Aso told executives of his Liberal Democratic Party on
Monday he intends to overcome any opposition in order to promote reform of the
national public service system.
==Kyodo