Japan Press Weekly

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2018 September 19 - 25 [POLITICS]

Majority of general public oppose Abe’s move to revise Constitution

More than half of the general public are opposed to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s move to revise the Constitution. This was shown in an opinion poll which Kyodo News Service conducted on September 20 and 21 after Abe was reelected as the head of the Liberal Democratic Party for his third consecutive term.

The poll found that concerning Abe’s intent to submit an LDP-drafted bill to amend the Constitution to the Diet in an extraordinary session scheduled for this fall, the percentage of those who oppose stood at 51%, far exceeding the percentage of those who support its introduction, 36%.

After the victory in the party presidential race, Abe expressed anew his determination to change Article 9 of the Constitution to stipulate without ambiguity the legal status of the Self-Defense Forces. The latest poll indicates that Abe’s interest in implementing constitutional revision diverges from the sentiment of the general public.

Regarding the question on which policy issues the Abe Cabinet should give priority to, the largest portion of the respondents (41%) responded “public pension, medical service, and nursing care”, followed by “economic policies, including business and employment” (40%). Only 7% of the respondents cited “constitutional revision”.

In the same poll, 17 % of the respondents are “satisfied with” Abe’s explanations about the favoritism scandals involving the school corporations of Moritomo and Kake while 77% are “not satisfied”.

Asked whether they support a planned increase in the consumption tax rate from the current 8% to 10% in October 2019, 54% oppose and 41% support the tax hike.

Past related articles:
> PM Abe increases pro-revision remarks in regard to Article 9 [September 5, 2018]
> Abe spurs his party to submit its draft constitution to Diet this fall [August 14, 2018]