The Democratic Party of Japan wants to create a new Cabinet portfolio to oversee its planned policymaking bureau if it wins power in Sunday's election, DPJ officials said Tuesday.
The state minister for the National Strategy Bureau would likely also serve as the party's policy chief and would support the prime minister in mapping out budgets as well as basic foreign and national security policies, according to the officials.
In its campaign platform, the DPJ pledges to set up the bureau as a pillar of its administration to ensure that policymaking is less dependent on bureaucrats and devise policies under the control of the prime minister.
The party plans to abolish the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, a body set up in January 2001 with the aim of giving the prime minister's office more power over fiscal policy and reining in bureaucratic influence.
Senior DPJ members have said the council has virtually been under the control of Finance Ministry officials.
The new bureau would likely have a total staff of 30, including as many as 10 Diet members. The remaining 20 slots are expected to include heads of municipalities as well as scholars and bureaucrats specializing in economic, fiscal and foreign policy.