 LDP and DPJ both call for constitutional revision Dietmembers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan are emulating each other in calling for adverse revision of the peace Constitution. Their articles appeared in the January 2005 issue of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren)'s monthly "Economic Trend" featuring "Constitutional revision." Contributors are Yasuoka Okiharu, LDP Research Commission on the Constitution chair, and Edano Yukio, DPJ Research Commission on the Constitution chair, both House of Representatives members. Yasuoka wrote that the present Constitution has failed to keep up with the needs of the time and that work for constitutional revision must focus on security issue. He advocates that the new constitution must expressly stipulate that Japan can exercise the right of collective self-defense, which should be the centerpiece of a revised Constitution. While denouncing the Constitution for allowing "bureaucratism and centralism" to spread. Edano insisted that Japan must increase its international contribution concerning security issues. In a feature article "Thinking about how the nation should be," the Nippon Keidanren monthly wrote: "Recent rapid changes surrounding Japan require us to make an overall review of the nation's basic structure and policy, such as the overseas dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces, United Nations reform, and Japan's diplomacy with East Asian countries that will greatly affect Japan's role in the international community. We are responding to recent quick moves over these issues in and out of the Diet covering part of an opposition party." Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro in his New Year statement reiterated that he wants to obtain support from the DPJ in working out a new constitution draft. Koizumi was interviewed by Nippon Keidanren President Okuda Hiroshi, in an article entitled "Let's talk about Japan's future" which was published in the business circle's monthly as the feature article. Nippon Keidanren will soon publish its own constitutional revision draft. (end) |