Shinzo Abe hinting at constitutional amendment after 2016 elections

Posted on : 2015-02-06 16:44 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
It might be difficult to get the required two-thirds majority in the Diet

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his view that it would “make sense” to submit a constitutional amendment to the Japanese Diet after the elections for the House of Councillors, the upper house in the Diet, take place in the summer of 2016. Given that this is the first time that Abe has mentioned a specific timeframe for the amendment, it may be a sign that the Japanese government will start moving forward with its efforts to revise Japan’s “Peace Constitution.”

On Feb. 4, Abe met with Hajime Funada, chair of the Headquarters for the Promotion of Revision to the Constitution for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), at the Prime Minister’s residence.

When Funada explained that it would probably take until after the House of Councillors election in summer 2016 to wrap up discussion on all remaining points, Abe said “that makes sense,” Japanese newspapers reported on Feb. 5.

On Feb. 3, when Abe was asked about amending the constitution during a meeting of the budget committee for the House of Councillors, he hinted at his resolve to carry out constitutional amendment. “The LDP is already working on an amendment for Article 9 [of the constitution]. The reason we want to amend the constitution is to protect the life and property of the public and to carry out that duty,” Abe said.

“This is the first time that Abe has specifically mentioned a timeframe for carrying out a public referendum about constitutional amendment,” said the Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper.

The aim of the constitutional amendment for which Abe is agitating is to dismantle the system established after Japan‘s defeat in World War II by revising Article 9, which in its current form rejects the right to exercise force.

In addition to the question of revising Article 9, which permanently bans the use of force, the LDP has other items on its agenda for constitutional amendment. The party hopes to reflect societal changes over the past six decades by adding clauses about environmental rights, crisis management (a clause partially limiting basic civil rights in the event of an emergency), and fiscal health.

Abe appears to have made the remarks on Wednesday because his landslide victory in the elections for the House of Representatives, the lower house in Japan’s Diet, in Dec. 2014, restored his confidence that he maintains the upper hand in Japanese politics.

In Nov. 2014, immediately before the election, Abe noted that it would not be easy to secure a two-thirds majority in the Diet - the margin required to pass a constitutional amendment.

Next month, the LDP is planning to set up constitutional review committees in both houses of the Diet to solicit opinions from the various political parties about constitutional reform.

After the LDP finalizes its draft of the amendment, it is expected to devote all of its energy to gaining control of two-thirds of seats in the House of Councillors elections - which will be held sometime next summer - either by itself or through a coalition with other parties.

With that majority in hand, progress toward amending the constitution could proceed swiftly, moving from a vote in the Diet to a public referendum. Japanese newspaper reports suggest that this could take place as early as the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017.

 

By Gil Yun-hyung, Tokyo correspondent

 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Related stories

Most viewed articles