article3

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

LDP draft of constitution brings Japan back to war-fighting nation
Akahata editorial

The Liberal Democratic Party has published its first draft of a new constitution based on the outline it released on July 7. The LDP intends to put it to party discussion with the view of adopting it at its convention to be held in November to mark the 50th anniversary of its founding.

A key element of the LDP draft is its intention to bring Japan back to being a war-fighting nation. It reveals the party's dangerous aim of getting rid of the present constitutional principles of peace and democracy.

We will raise our angry voices criticizing this LDP draft that defies the people's wishes.

Article 9 shredded

The LDP draft has completely shredded the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.

It completely crosses out paragraph two of Article 9 stipulating no maintenance of war potential and denying Japan the right of belligerency. The LDP draft replaces this with "Japan shall maintain self-defense armed forces." The change will remove the brakes against using force outside of the country. The LDP draft states that "the self-defense armed forces are allowed to carry out activities for securing the peace and safety of the international community," namely for fighting wars abroad. It authorizes the Japanese "armed forces" to exercise a right of belligerency and allows them to fight wars together with U.S. forces in cases like the Iraq War.

What is more, the draft states that "the Japanese people should ... willingly and actively contribute to the activities of the self-defense armed forces." This means that the people are forced by law to cooperate in war. The outline for constitutional revision said that a new constitution must state that the pacifist principle is everlasting. In the article-by-article draft, however, Article 9 is reduced to shreds.

The LDP draft provides that "the 'self-defense armed forces' will be responsible for "activities to maintain the country's public order." It also calls for replacing Article 12's freedoms and rights with "people's responsibilities and duties" saying that an awareness of freedoms and rights should be accompanied by responsibilities and duties, and that people must enjoy freedom and exercise rights in a manner that may not interfere with public interests and public order."

According to the LDP draft, opposition to war will be contrary to "public order." It means that citizens' freedoms and rights can be restricted or, in some cases, suppressed with military force for "failing to comply with national duty."

In the section on the judiciary, the draft provides that a court-martial system will be set up to deal with military-related problems. This is designed to change Article 76 of the present Constitution stipulating that "the whole judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court and in the lower courts" and "no extraordinary tribunal shall be established." Thus the LDP is scheming to allow the military to hold court-martials in civil cases.

The LDP draft also makes a change in Article 20's principle of separation of politics from religion that bans the State from engaging in religious activities by adding the words "except for cases that are regarded part of social courtesies." This change will gut the principle of separation of politics and religion which is a national policy embodying the determination that Japan shall never allow state Shintoism that promoted the war of aggression to be revived. Gutting this principle shows the LDP's desire to make the prime minister's Yasukuni Shrine visit constitutional and in anticipation of new war deads.

Make resolute counter-attack

The Constitution exists with the aim of controlling the activity of state power so that basic human rights and freedoms will be guaranteed. The Japanese Constitution was established in order to realize this goal. By banning the possession of war potentials and renouncing the right to belligerency, it advanced the position that international peace must be established through peaceful means.

Thus, the LDP is attacking the supreme law. Its desire to adversely revise the Constitution is geared to enable Japan to go to wars abroad under U.S. direction. The need now is for the public to show their firm determination to foil such an attempt. -- Akahata, August 2, 2005