Japan Press Weekly

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2015 October 7 - 13 [POLITICS]

Opposition parties in metropolitan assembly call for repealing war legislation

The Japanese Communist Party and five other opposition parties in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly published a joint statement on October 8 calling for the abolition of the recently-enacted national security legislation.

The five opposition parties in addition to the JCP are the Democratic Party of Japan, the Japan Innovation Party, the Tokyo Seikatsusha Network, and two independent groups. The JCP is the largest opposition party with 17 members in the assembly. The number of assemblypersons endorsing the statement totals 42, accounting for 34% of the current 124 seats in the assembly.

The statement blames the Abe administration for ramming the war bills through the Upper House in September in defiance of substantial public opposition. Noting that an overwhelming majority of constitutional scholars, lawyers, and even a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court condemn the laws as unconstitutional, the document stresses that the war legislation denies constitutionalism.

The statement goes on to proclaim, “In order to protect democracy and restore constitutionalism, we will make all-out efforts to repeal the security legislation together with Tokyoites and the general public.”