  Constitutional revision is in breach of parliamentary democracy -- Akahata editorial, December 14 (excerpt)The Liberal Democratic Party's attempt to draft a revision to the Constitution has got into difficulty. The party's Constitution Research Council, which had planned to complete an outline for the revision in December, was forced to give it up due to strong opposition some LDP members of the House of Councilors expressed toward the proposed outline treating the Upper House lightly. It is true that the proposed outline called for enhancing the Lower House's superiority over the Upper House. The real issue here was that it took sides with an idea that would take the country back to the pre-war parliament system. Because such a concept undermines parliamentary democracy, the LDP came under heavy criticism from Japan and abroad. This resulted in intensifying the LDP's inner-party rift. In any case, they were seeking to erase the peace principles established in Article 9 of the Constitution and open the way for unlimited overseas dispatches of Japan's Self-Defense Forces to participate in U.S. wars. The majority of the Japanese people, however, do not want to turn Japan into a "war-fighting nation". Under the present Constitution, the sovereign people hold the highest constitutional position. The LDP is attempting to reverse this hierarchy, hoping to control the people under a revised Constitution. No matter how much they launch anti-constitutional campaigns, things are not proceeding as they wish. More and more people are rereading the Constitution and beginning to stand up to make use of the pioneering constitutional principles. Hopes for peace and democracy have made progress through people's own experiences and struggles. We the people have boundless power to foil the attempt to adversely revise the Constitution. Let's further increase this power and block any moves to destroy the Constitution! (end) |