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

Constitutional revision is now major issue in election: JCP Shii

On August 22, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo said at a press conference in Kyoto, "Whether the Constitution should be revised or not has become a major issue in the upcoming general election." He was referring to the Liberal Democratic and Democratic parties announcing plans to publish their drafts of constitutional revision.

The LDP in its election platform said that it will issue its draft by November 15, 2005. The DPJ's platform also announced its publication of a "constitutional proposal."

Shii stated that the aim shared by these parties is to destroy Article 9 and make it constitutional for Japan to have its "self-defense armed forces." He explained that the LDP's first draft of a revised Constitution issued on August 1 removed "renunciation of war," "non-possession of war potential," and "rejection of right of belligerency," which are the heart of Article 9, and proposed maintenance of "self-defense forces."

Shii also said that DPJ member Hatoyama Yukio demanded at the House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting in February that the Constitution should be revised to allow Japan to possess "self-defense armed forces" and was supported by Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro.

The JCP chair emphasized, "Once 'self-defense armed forces' are mentioned in the Constitution, it will mean losing brakes on militarism, and Japan will be turned into a war-fighting nation. This is the direction in which both the LDP and DPJ want to proceed."

"On the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII, we should not forget that Article 9 was established based on a reflection on the war of aggression that killed 3.1 million Japanese and 20 million Asian people as well as the pledge to the world that Japan will never go to war again," said Shii. He also stressed, "As a party which has always striven for peace, the JCP will stand for grassroots calls for the defense of the Constitution and call on peace-loving citizens to vote for the JCP." -- Akahata, August 23, 2005