Focal points surfacing on Constitution's Article 9: defend or break

Debates in the House of Representatives Research Commission on the Constitution hearing on June 14 made clearer that at issue is whether to defend or eliminate Article 9 of the Constitution.

Haruna Naoaki, Japanese Communist Party, said that in local hearings many people appreciated the pioneering role of Article 9. He raised doubts if the house committee, where a majority are in favor of a constitutional revision, correctly reflects public opinion on the Constitution.

Yamaguchi Tomio, JCP, also stressed the need for the committee to research how the Constitution's rich content of human rights has been materialized in daily living in postwar Japan. The committee must make efforts to learn the true value of the Constitution, he said.

A Liberal Democratic Party member argued that the Constitution was "imposed" on Japan by the U.S. occupation forces and that a thorough national discussion must be launched on constitutional revision, first with the Preface then on each of the provisions.

A Komei Party member said that the present international atmosphere requires reviewing the essence of Article 9, and another Komei lawmaker insisted that the constitutional provision be reviewed to meet the need to send the Self-Defense Forces abroad as part of United Nations peacekeeping forces.

A member of the Democratic Party of Japan proposed that an amendment to identify the SDF as a 'military force' be attached to the Constitution. A Liberal Party member insisted that the provision that an initiation of the constitutional amendment by the Diet needs a "concurring vote of two-thirds or more of all the members of each House" be rewritten to "a half or more." Both of them said that the Constitution needs provisional amendments. (end)