Top officials of the nation's reigning political party should join the Cabinet to put more policymaking power into the hands of the prime minister, a Liberal Democratic Party panel said in a proposal revealed Sunday.
The LDP's Strategy Headquarters, led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who is also LDP president, said in the draft that a party's policymaking chief should be given a Cabinet position to enable the prime minister to make policy decisions in a rapid, top-down style.
The panel also proposed that other top executives, including the secretary general, should also join the Cabinet as ministers without portfolios in the future so that the party will be more in tune with Cabinet policies.