October 14 & 15, 2015
The Japanese Communist Party and three other opposition parties on October 14 made representations to the secretary-general of the House of Councilors over the issue that the minutes of the House special committee on the controversial national security legislation contain an additional sentence which was not written in the original records.
During a special committee meeting on September 17, Dietmembers from the ruling parties suddenly rushed toward the seat of the committee chair, and the security bills were put to a “vote” in the midst of angry shouts. Regarding the voting procedure, the minutes just stated, “Hearing what is being said is impossible due to the confusion.”
However, the records of the committee meeting the Upper House published on its website on October 11 states that the bills “passed through the committee”. Regarding this bland description, an Upper House Secretariat official explained that this sentence was added later on the instructions of committee chairperson Konoike Yoshitada, a legislator from the Liberal Democratic Party.
Those opposition lawmakers noted in their representations that such a unilateral addition is unacceptable as it will lead to undermining public trust in the Diet and the accuracy of its minutes. They went on to demand that authorities examine when and how the sentence was added to the records.
Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Inoue Satoshi pointed out that this is a matter of serious concern which affects Japan’s democracy. He said, “Many people who were watching the committee deliberations on TV doubt the validity of that vote. Neither committee members nor stenographers were able to understand what was actually transpiring on the floor. If shorthand records of Diet discussions can be amended or added at the direction of a committee chair, it will allow governing parties to draw up the minutes to their advantage.”
Other representatives of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, and a group of independents also stressed that it is unforgivable to distort the facts.
In response to the representations, the secretary-general promised to investigate how this came about and report the results to them.
Past related article:
> Shii condemns railroading of war bills [September 18, 2015]
During a special committee meeting on September 17, Dietmembers from the ruling parties suddenly rushed toward the seat of the committee chair, and the security bills were put to a “vote” in the midst of angry shouts. Regarding the voting procedure, the minutes just stated, “Hearing what is being said is impossible due to the confusion.”
However, the records of the committee meeting the Upper House published on its website on October 11 states that the bills “passed through the committee”. Regarding this bland description, an Upper House Secretariat official explained that this sentence was added later on the instructions of committee chairperson Konoike Yoshitada, a legislator from the Liberal Democratic Party.
Those opposition lawmakers noted in their representations that such a unilateral addition is unacceptable as it will lead to undermining public trust in the Diet and the accuracy of its minutes. They went on to demand that authorities examine when and how the sentence was added to the records.
Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Inoue Satoshi pointed out that this is a matter of serious concern which affects Japan’s democracy. He said, “Many people who were watching the committee deliberations on TV doubt the validity of that vote. Neither committee members nor stenographers were able to understand what was actually transpiring on the floor. If shorthand records of Diet discussions can be amended or added at the direction of a committee chair, it will allow governing parties to draw up the minutes to their advantage.”
Other representatives of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, and a group of independents also stressed that it is unforgivable to distort the facts.
In response to the representations, the secretary-general promised to investigate how this came about and report the results to them.
Past related article:
> Shii condemns railroading of war bills [September 18, 2015]
