Ruling parties and opposition DPJ maintain cozy relationship

Japan Press Weekly

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

Ruling parties and opposition DPJ maintain cozy relationship

The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on April 14 again displayed their servility to the United States in the House of Representatives Plenary Session by acting in favor of a stronger Japan-U.S. military alliance regarding two issues.

The first is passage of the bill to ratify the Japan-U.S. agreement on relocating a part of the U.S. Marine Corps to Guam through the House of Representatives. Despite its questionable provisions, the House of Representatives committee took only three days for its discussion.

The other is the start of Diet discussion on a bill to deploy the Self-Defense Forces abroad to "protect ships from pirate attacks". The ruling parties are trying to get the bill passed by the House of Representatives.

3 adverse effects on Japanese people

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo said that the Guam Agreement will have adverse effects.

The agreement will promote the plan to construct a new air base in the sea off the Henoko district of Nago City as a replacement for the USMC Futenma Air Station.

The publicity of a plan to cut the number of U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa by 8,000 has been revealed to be a lie because the U.S. Forces will maintain a 10,000-strong combat force.

It will force Japan to spend 600 billion yen in tax money for a foreign base on a foreign territory (Guam) and to shoulder additional burdens such as USMC training and travel expenses.

In his statement at a House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on April 8, Ginowan Mayor Iha Yoichi stated that government explanations are "absolutely unacceptable to most Okinawans and are making them angry." The mayor demanded thorough deliberations regarding the proposed bill in the Committee.

However, ignoring Okinawans' demand for careful deliberation, the ruling parties cut short the committee discussion on April 10 and put the bill to ratify the relocation agreement to a vote.

The Democratic Party of Japan declared its opposition to the bill but agreed to allow the early vote.

Use of military force abroad

As for the "anti-piracy" bill, if its forcible passage is allowed, it will leave serious problems to be faced in the future.

As JCP representative Akamine Seiken stated during the House of Representatives committee meeting on April 14, the bill will enable the SDF to use arms abroad, in violation of Article 9 of the Constitution, and paves the way for a permanent law to deploy the SDF on missions abroad.

The bill will authorize the SDF to engage in new overseas missions in the name of "anti-piracy" operations and allow its troops to go any waters throughout the world by government decisions that will not pose any limits on the size of deployed forces or geographic areas of operations.

Unlike the existing principle that the "use of arms" during SDF missions abroad is allowed only for the purpose of "protecting the lives of troops," the bill is intended to permit the "use of weapons during anti-piracy missions."

This will allow the SDF to fire at approaching pirates. SDF members will then be allowed to kill for the first time in the postwar period.

The ruling parties are forming an ad-hoc committee to discuss the bill in order to get the bill enacted as quickly as possible.

The DPJ has shown its readiness to enter into negotiations to "amend" the bill with the ruling bloc, but it will not request any "amendments" aimed at restricting overseas dispatches of the SDF or the "use of arms".

The JCP is demanding a thorough discussion on the bill and is speaking out against the cozy relations between the ruling parties and the supposedly opposition DPJ.

- Akahata, April 15, 2009