The administration has submitted a bill to the Diet that would create an office to manage personnel affairs effecting senior government officials as part of an effort to reform the public servant system and strengthen the prime minister's office's political control.
The bill, approved Tuesday at a Cabinet meeting, seeks to eliminate divided administrative functions and to allow a prime minister and a chief Cabinet secretary to take the lead in deciding personnel affairs of about 600 senior officials.
Some opposition lawmakers are against the bill, arguing it isn't strong enough as it allows the existing National Personnel Authority's involvement in personnel issues. It is still uncertain whether the bill will be passed before the Diet session ends Dec. 6.