All three LDP presidential candidates call for constitutional revision

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All three LDP presidential candidates call for constitutional revision

All three candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party president, who will start campaigning on September 8, are calling for a constitutional revision as the next cabinet's major task in order to enable Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense.

Finance Minister Tanigaki Sadakazu put forward a revision of Article 9 in his platform published on August 30, stating, "Since judgment on exercising the right of collective self-defense is enormously important, this question should be resolved by not just interpreting the Constitution but fundamentally revising it."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo, who is widely regarded as the front runner, wrote in his book, "I doubt that we can allow the argument that Japan has the right of collective self-defense but cannot exercise it to continue forever." He also stated on August 22, "We must establish a new Constitution by ourselves."

The other candidate, Foreign Minister Aso Taro, said on an NHK TV program aired on August 27, "Constitutional revision should be carried out without fail because it has been the LDP's principle goal since its foundation." At the same time, bearing in mind the difficulty of revising the Constitution, he has insisted that exercise of the right of collective self-defense must be allowed through constitutional interpretation even before its revision.
- Akahata, September 1, 2006