Sadatoshi Ozato, newly appointed head of the Management and Coordination Agency believes firmly that the final report of the government's top panel on administrative reform must be completed without delay.
"The final report of the Administrative Reform Council should be worked out by November, under the deadline imposed by the prime minister," Ozato, 67, said in an interview. "The reform is of vital importance for the government in moving toward the 21st century," said Ozato, who is a Lower House member of the Liberal Democratic Party. The agency chief is in charge of administrative reform, the policy priority of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who heads the reform panel.
Some political observers have said that it will be difficult for the council to work out a solution for downsizing the bloated government within the next two months, because opposition to the council's interim report is mounting from those with vested interests. Such opponents include the "zoku-giin" tribe legislators who speak for specific interests, and bureaucrats whose ministries have been targeted for streamlining in suggestions made by the council. The LDP has the most tenacious and largest number of these lawmakers.