Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Tuesday failed to win the support of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for his proposal to not upgrade the Defense Agency to a ministry, LDP officials said.
The issue should be concluded before the Administrative Reform Council, a government panel headed by Hashimoto, meets this evening to finalize its report on how to reorganize the nation's administrative system. Hashimoto, who heads the LDP, faced strong opposition to his proposal during a meeting of the LDP's decision-making Executive Council.
The party decided to convene another Executive Council meeting today to discuss the issue again, together with the issue of whether to strip the Finance Ministry of its money market-related functions, the officials said. Hashimoto has postponed a final decision on the issue of whether to upgrade the Defense Agency because some LDP members opposed the idea when his reform council worked out a blueprint for a new administration system for the 21st century in the early morning of Nov. 22.
Although a number of LDP members have demanded the agency be upgraded to a ministry, the LDP's two allies -- the Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake -- snubbed the idea, saying it would go against the international trend of reducing arms.