「決裁の過程で首相、長官に説明」　野党ヒアリング詳報

"Explanation to the Prime Minister and Secretary in the process of approval" Opposition hearing details

The opposition held a hearing in the Diet on June 6 to hear from representatives from the Cabinet Office and the Cabinet Legislation Bureau on the issue of the appointment of six potential members recommended by the Science Council of Japan. The focus was on two points: (1) to what extent Prime Minister Yoshihide Kan was involved in personnel affairs, and (2) whether the Cabinet Office and the Cabinet Legislation Bureau had changed their conventional interpretations of the law. When asked whether the pension would increase if he became a member of the academic conference, there were times when the conference secretariat denied it. 

According to the document, the names of 99 scholars are lined up at this time. The academic council has a list of 105 recommendations, so six people had already been excluded when the document finally approved by the prime minister was drafted. Mizuho Fukushima of the Social Democratic Party asked, "Did you discuss it with the prime minister before September 24?" A Cabinet Office official said, "In the process of the decision, we are explaining it to the Prime Minister and the Chief Cabinet Secretary. I will refrain from the details." It was an explanation that Prime Minister Kan was involved in the process of being narrowed down from 105 to 99 people.

For this reason, the opposition repeatedly asked, "When did you explain to the prime minister before the 24th?", but the government did not say it was a "human resources process." On the other hand, "It's a formal appointment. The opposition repeatedly pursued consistency with past answers, "I will not refuse." In this report, given that the members of the Academic Council are national government officials in special positions, the Prime Minister concludes that "it is not considered that there is an obligation to be appointed as recommended."　

Source: https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASNB67QBMNB6UTFK021.html