DPJ may create policymaking bureau at 1st Cabinet meet in mid-Sept.+

TOKYO, Aug. 19 Kyodo -
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan eyes establishing a new
policymaking bureau at its first Cabinet meeting, possibly to be held in
mid-September, so that a DPJ-led government could swiftly begin translating
party pledges into action, DPJ sources said Wednesday.

The plan, which would set up a National Strategy Bureau directly reporting to
the prime minister, would be pursued if the DPJ wins power in the Aug. 30 House
of Representatives election.
Through the bureau, a DPJ-led government would immediately begin revising the
supplementary budget for the current fiscal year through March and compiling a
new budget for the next fiscal year to put into action policies proposed in the
DPJ's manifesto, the sources said.
To ensure politician-led, unified policymaking, the DPJ eyes appointing to the
post of state minister in charge of the new bureau a senior Cabinet member who
would double as the party's policy chief, the sources said.
The bureau would initially be set up by revising a Cabinet order as a National
Strategy Office to expedite the organization's establishment, the sources said,
adding that the government would submit to an extraordinary session of
parliament that may be convened in the fall a bill to upgrade the office into a
bureau with clearly defined authority and a sufficient budget.
The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, founded by former Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi as an organ to implement various reforms, will be abolished
upon the new organization's establishment.
The bureau would bring together about 30 experts in various fields --
politicians, academics, bureaucrats and local government representatives -- who
are well versed in the economy, fiscal policy and diplomacy and support DPJ
policies.
Acting DPJ leader Naoto Kan has said the DPJ would cancel and recompile the
4.36 trillion yen portion of the supplementary budget that is to be disbursed
to 46 funds.
A controversial 11.7 billion yen project to build a state-run animation center
would be canceled, while any money made available would be used to restore
single-mother allowances believed to total 18 billion yen every year, the
sources said.
After these policies are studied by the bureau, the government would submit a
second supplementary budget for fiscal 2009 to the extraordinary Diet session,
the sources added.
The bureau would compile a budget for the next fiscal year starting in April by
overhauling the budget request ceilings already approved by Prime Minister Taro
Aso's Cabinet.
==Kyodo
2009-08-19 22:53:43