Japan goes live in budget fight with bureaucrats

TOKYO – Japan’s new government has found a novel way to appeal to voters worried about mounting national debt – broadcasting its clashes with bureaucrats over spending cuts live on the Internet.

Operating out of makeshift offices in a Tokyo gym, three government-appointed panels made up of ruling party lawmakers and private sector experts have until the end of next week to cut waste from a record 95 trillion yen (US$1 trillion) in budget requests made by ministries for the financial year starting in April.Exposing a process previously kept behind closed doors seems to have pleased voters concerned about the national debt, which at nearly 200 per cent of GDP is the highest among developed nations.An Asahi newspaper poll published on Monday showed 62 per cent of respondents supported Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, down three percentage points on the previous month, but 76 per cent rated his cost-cutting efforts highly.’It’s the first time this has been done, and everyone is enjoying seeing the bureaucrats being subjected to a kangaroo court,’ said political commentator Minoru Morita.News shows broadcast highlights from the deliberations each evening, often focusing on Democratic Party lawmaker Renho, a stylish former TV presenter who grills squirming bureaucrats about the effectiveness of projects and the substantial salaries paid to those who manage them.The results of the rapid-fire debates on each project are scrawled on a whiteboard: ‘cancelled’, ‘budget cut’ or occasionally ‘to continue’.The list ranges from supercomputer and rocket development to subsidies for the loss-making Kansai International Airport near the city of Osaka.A spokesman for the Administrative Reform Agency in charge of the panels said he had no figures on cuts made so far, but analysts say they expect up to three trillion yen to be slashed.On the first day of the broadcasts last week, the Website almost crashed because thousands of people logged on to watch at the same time, the Yomiuri newspaper said.But the process is not without its critics.Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei complained that no-one from his tiny coalition party was appointed to any of the panels, a report said, while others have pointed out that very few of the projects under discussion come under the auspices of the Finance Ministry, which is in charge of the budget.Analysts say decisions may be taken too quickly and few agree on what constitutes wasteful spending.’If they really wanted to cut the budget, they should be looking at big items like defence spending and the overseas aid budget,’ said Morita. ‘But they’re sticking to the smaller items.’- Nampa-Reuters