Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he wants to gain the support of parties including the Party of Hope, led by Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike, on amending the Constitution after the Oct 22 lower house election. In an interview with Kyodo News ahead of the start of official campaigning on…
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he wants to gain the support of parties including the Party of Hope, led by Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike, on amending the Constitution after the Oct 22 lower house election.
In an interview with Kyodo News ahead of the start of official campaigning on Tuesday, Abe said his Liberal Democratic Party will seek to cooperate broadly with other parties on proposing a first-ever reform to the 70-year-old Constitution.
“While deepening the debate within our party, we want to cooperate with any other party,” Abe said.
In its election platform released Monday, Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party said it will aim to make the first-ever amendment to the Constitution “on the basis of sufficient debate inside and outside the party” of four specific points.
These points include the question of adding specific mention of the status of the Self-Defense Forces. The SDF is currently governed by its own law but is not referenced in the Constitution, Article 9 of which requires Japan to renounce war and the maintenance of “war potential.”
Also Friday, Koike’s Party of Hope released its manifesto, calling for debate on any constitutional amendments, with Koike saying that Article 9 should be included in the discussion.
Abe said even if the LDP were to maintain a majority of seats in the lower house, this would not mean that the public has given it a mandate for its views on constitutional reform. He said each party’s position will need to be put through debate in constitutional commissions in both houses of the Diet.
