Diet Committee Debates Science Council Appointment
Japanese lawmakers have asked the government why the prime minister refused to appoint six nominees recommended by a leading academic organization as new members.
The Science Council of Japan is made up of 210 members whose terms last six years. Half of them are replaced with new members every three years. The council is an independent body, but its members are special national government employees.
The debate took place at the Cabinet committee of Japan's Lower House of the Diet on Wednesday.
Lawmaker Sonoura Kentaro of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said the government should provide a clear explanation to assure the public that the recent move by Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide does not violate a law that governs appointments of council members or academic freedom.
State Minister of Cabinet Office Mitsubayashi Hiromi responded that the prime minister has the legal power to appoint the council's membership and that he made his decision based on the law. He added that the act did not infringe the six scholars' rights to academic freedom.
In response to whether the scholars' past records, such as their opposition to security legislation that took effect in 2016, affected the decision, Head of the Cabinet Office secretariat Otsuka Yukihiro said Suga has denied this.
Imai Masato of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan asked whether the government has changed its interpretation of a law governing the council.
He referred to 2018 government documents which Cabinet Office officials submitted at a meeting with opposition parties on Tuesday. They suggest that the prime minister is not obliged to appoint new council members who are recommended by the body.
Imai noted that when the law was revised in 1983, government officials told the Diet that the prime minister's appointments are a formality and that appointments will be made as recommended by the council.
Mitsubayashi responded that the prime minister, who has the power to appoint council membership, is not obliged to follow council recommendations, as stipulated by Article 15 of the Constitution. The article says that the people have the right to choose and dismiss their public officials.
He denied the view that the government has changed its legal interpretation, and added that the government has taken the stance since the nomination scheme was introduced.
Asked why the six researchers were not appointed, Otsuka said the prime minister made his decision based on law to allow the council to conduct its activities comprehensively.
