The government is considering allowing assembly members in small municipalities to hold another job at the same time, a practice currently barred by the Local Government Law, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The move is aimed at alleviating shortages of assembly members in towns and villages due to depopulation and the aging of society.
Under the plan, people eligible to serve concurrently on assemblies would include employees of other municipalities and executives of corporations that have undertaken projects ordered by a municipality. Individual town and village governments will be allowed to decide whether to permit this, according to sources.
The government intends to submit bills to revise the law and other regulations to an ordinary Diet session next year at earliest, the sources added.
In a report to be released at the end of this month, an Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry panel studying town and village assemblies will pitch the new system as an "assembly in which a wide range of people participate."
The government plans to work out such details as the size of target municipalities through the Local Government System Research Council, an advisory panel to the prime minister, before drafting legislation. The new system would be a turning point for the traditional local assembly system, in which assemblies nationwide follow a standard framework.
According to the ministry panel's draft report, members of "mass-participation assemblies" would work part-time and the number of the seats would be significantly increased. Assemblies would operate on the premise that members hold other jobs, with salaries reduced and assembly meetings generally held at night or on holidays.
To account for cases in which executives of corporations that have undertaken municipal projects serve as assembly members, assemblies will not be able to decide on contracts or the purchase and selling of properties that exceed a certain sum of money. In addition, the government will consider introducing a system in which residents can directly examine assembly decisions and determine if they are appropriate based on disclosed information.
To make it easier for residents to serve concurrently as assembly members, regulations will be considered that prohibit companies and other entities from putting prospective candidates at a disadvantage, such as firing employees for running for an assembly or for devoting time to assembly duties.
The ministry panel will also propose alternative "concentrated assemblies" with greater authority and that are run by a smaller number of full-time members who have higher salaries. This system envisions cutting the number of seats and raising salaries for the remaining members using money saved through the seat reduction.
The ministry panel intends to introduce a system in which young people who cannot vote and women will participate, to reflect public opinion and nurture future assembly members.
Each municipality will be allowed to choose if it wants to maintain the current system, adopt a mass-participation assembly or adopt a concentrated assembly. Municipalities will adopt their system of preference through a municipal ordinance.
The ministry panel was established after the village of Okawa in Kochi Prefecture last June began discussing whether it should abolish its assembly and replace it with a general meeting of village residents, who would deliberate budgetary and other matters. Eight members participated in the panel, which was chaired by Meiji University Prof. Tokumi Odagiri.
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