Japan Press Weekly

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2015 December 16 - 22 TOP3 [POLITICS]

‘Civil Alliance’ formed to repeal war legislation

Representatives of five civic groups opposing the war legislation held a news conference on December 20 in Tokyo and announced the establishment of the “Civil Alliance for Peace and Constitutionalism”. Their immediate aim is to encourage opposition parties to unite for next summer’s Upper House election in order to repeal the national security legislation.

The five groups are the All-Out Action Committee, with which the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) is affiliated, the Association of Scholars Opposed to the Security-related Laws, Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy-s (SEALDs), Mothers against War, and Save Constitutional Democracy Japan 2014.

Based on the ongoing nationwide campaign to collect 20 million signatures demanding the abolition of the war legislation, the Civil Alliance is calling on opposition forces to cooperate so as to achieve the following three goals: abolition of the national security legislation; restoration of constitutionalism (including the revocation of the Abe Cabinet decision to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense); and realization of politics to respect individual dignity.

In the prospectus for its foundation, the newly-formed organization prompts opposition parties to start to work together to field joint candidates in all the 32 single-seat constituencies across the country in the coming Upper House election. Regarding the choice of a unified candidate, it states that if necessary, alliance members would be involved in the process along with opposition parties.

The document goes on to refer to the fact that in defiance of mounting public opposition, the Abe government is moving ahead with the construction of a U.S. military base in Okinawa’s Henoko district as well as the restart of idled nuclear reactors around the nation. It notes that the organization will mainly support candidates who share views on protecting people’s personal dignity.

At the press conference, a member of Mothers against War, Saigo Minako, said, “I want opposition parties to take seriously our earnest desire to have the war legislation annulled.”

Hosei University Professor Yamaguchi Jiro, a promoter of Save Constitutional Democracy Japan 2014, stressed the importance of a by-election in the Lower House which will be held in Hokkaido in April 2016. “This is the first ‘national’ election after the security laws were enacted. It would question how firmly the general public is opposed to this unconstitutional legislation,” he said.

Past related article:
> Antiwar civic groups will form a coalition to restore constitutionalism [December 10, 2015]