 Prime Minister agrees with constitutional right to possess 'self-defense forces' Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro expressed his support for the idea that the Constitution be revised to allow Japan to possess "self-defense forces" in answer to a representative of the Democratic Party of Japan. At the House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting on February 2, DPJ member Hatoyama Yukio said that a revised constitution should provide that Japan will maintain "self-defense forces" in line with pacifism as well as carry out active "international cooperation" and dispatch the "self-defense forces" abroad on missions based on U.N. resolutions. Agreeing with Hatoyama, Koizumi said, "I hope that the question whether U.N. resolutions are necessary (for overseas deployment of the SDF) will be discussed." Akahata reported that Hatoyama's proposal is aimed at revising paragraph 2 of Article 9 that bans Japan from arming itself in order to pave the way for using force abroad. (end) |