JCP opposes report favoring revision of the Constitution

The House of Representatives Research Commission of the Constitution, despite objections from the Japanese Communist and Social Democratic parties, on November 1 adopted an interim report and submitted it to Lower House speaker Watanuki Tamisuke.

The JCP opposed this report, arguing that it has an intention to adversely revise the Japanese Constitution.

JCP Haruna Naoaki criticized the commission for neglecting to carry out necessary research on how the Constitution is implemented in many fields and for repeating discussions on ways to make the war-renouncing Constitution compatible with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

The Research Commission of the Constitution was established in January 2000, ostensibly to carry out a comprehensive research of the Japanese Constitution but apparently with the aim of amending the Constitution, especially Article 9 in which Japan is prohibited from going to war or having offensive weapons.

The JCP argues that the role of the commission should be: to watch whether or not the constitutional principles and ideas are observed in the fields of legislation, administration, and judiciary; if not, find out what the reasons are and how to solve the problems; and allow the Constitution to guide political and social structure and behavior. (end)