 Democratic Party panel approves interim report in favor of amending Article 9 The Democratic Party of Japan's Constitution Research Commission on April 25 approved an interim report in preparation for a DPJ proposal for constitutional revision that includes amending the war-renouncing Article 9. It calls for paragraph 2 of Article 9 to be amended to make clear that Japan has the right of self-defense and for constitutionality to be given to Japan's participation in U.N.-led collective security activities that will allow Japan to use force abroad. The report was compiled by the commission chair, Edano Yukio, based on the discussions in the five subcommissions. The commission will issue an outline of the report in May. Akahata on April 26 commented on this as follows: The DPJ Congress last December announced that it will draft an outline of a bill on constitutional amendments by March. However, it failed to publish even a gist of the outline. Edano's report reveals the DPJ's intention to make its policy acceptable to the Liberal Democratic Party, the aim being to make it easier for the Diet to propose a constitutional revision, which needs a two thirds majority in favor to pass. In calling for amending paragraph 2 of Article 9, the Edano report basically shares the view the LDP Constitution Research Commission put forward in its outline published on April 4. On February 17, Edano called on the LDP to start discussing the issues of constitutional revision and a referendum bill, which was warmly "welcomed" by the LDP. The DPJ panel also approved the "discussed points" with the view of drafting a national referendum bill. Edano later told reporters that the DPJ is ready to begin talks on this with the LDP and Komei Party in May. By publishing the "discussed points," the DPJ seeks to impress the public that it is taking the lead in the race for constitutional revision. (Akahata April 26, 2005) v |