December 11, 2018

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The 197th extraordinary session of the Diet ended on December 10. It was convened for the first time after Prime Minister Abe Shinzo won the presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party for his third consecutive term and then reshuffled his Cabinet and the LDP leadership. All through the extraordinary session, the Abe government high-handedly disregarded conventional parliamentary procedure and railroaded through controversial bills to accept more foreign workers, adversely revise the fisheries law and the law on water supply services, and approve the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement. However, Abe was unable to present an LDP-drafted bill to revise the Constitution to the parliament although he has been eager to do so.

On the occasion of his reelection as the LDP president, Abe reaffirmed his intention to accelerate efforts to submit the LDP bill to the Diet and realize the Diet initiation of a constitutional revision. In his policy speech at the beginning of the latest extraordinary session, Abe went so far as to say that lawmakers have a responsibility to discuss constitutional amendments. This underlines his arrogant disregard of the prime minister’s obligation to uphold the supreme law and the principle of the separation of powers. Abe’s reckless move toward a constitutional amendment led to angry reactions from opposition parties and the general public. It is clear that Abe’s high-handed manner has resulted in a stalemate. The need is to increase public opposition and force Abe to give up his ambition to change the Constitution.

The Abe government is pushing forward with the construction of a new U.S. base in Okinawa in defiance of strong local opposition. The economic downturn still continues as shown in a government announcement that GDP shrunk by an annualized 2.5% in the July-September period of this year. Evidently, Abe’s pro-business economic policy “Abenomics” delivered a blow to the overall economy. It is important to put an end to the Abe government which keeps implementing anti-people policies such as constitutional revision, military buildup, and a consumption tax hike.

Abe’s alleged involvement in the favoritism scandals concerning the “Moritomo” and “Kake” school corporations are still under a cloud of suspicion. It is necessary to pressure PM Abe to step down by delivering severe verdict on the LDP in nationwide simultaneous local elections and the Upper House election scheduled for next year.

Past related article:
> Abe spurs his party to submit its draft constitution to Diet this fall [August 14, 2018]