Japan Press Weekly

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2016 July 6 - 12 [POLITICS]

Majority of people oppose Abe’s initiative to revise pacifist Constitution

In the House of Councilors election on July 10, the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties each increased their number of seats. The total number of seats held by pro-constitutional amendment forces stands at 162, two-thirds of the seats in the Upper House. As a result, they now meet the requirements for initiating constitutional revision in both chambers.

In a commercial TV interview on the night of the election day, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said, “We’ve succeeded in building a bridge to constitutional amendment. We’ll work to reach an agreement with opposition parties through discussions in the Diet’s Commissions on the Constitution.” He added, “I want to discuss how and which articles should be revised.”

The election outcome, however, does not mean that PM Abe received a mandate from the people to change the Constitution. Exit polls show that a majority of voters oppose constitutional amendment.

The exit survey conducted by Kyodo News indicates that 50% of respondents are opposed to constitutional amendment under the Abe government, while 39.8% support it. According to the survey carried out by Jiji Press, 36% of respondents object to constitutional revision while 29.6% are in favor. Japan’s sole public broadcaster, NHK, asked voters aged 18 and 19, who gained voting rights for the first time, whether it is necessary to change the current Constitution. In response, 26% said “no” and 22% said “yes”.

PM Abe gave street speeches at more than 100 locations across the country during the month before the election day, but he never talked about the issue of constitutional amendment.

On the night of the election day, an anchorperson of a news program asked the prime minister why he avoided touching on the issue during the campaign. Abe said, “Unlike the procedures for revising laws, an amendment to the Constitution will be put to a national referendum. I expect people to closely observe the Diet deliberations on the matter.”

As the Diet is authorized to initiate constitutional amendments, it is only natural to debate whether to revise the Constitution or not in national election campaigns. Abe’s remarks are tantamount to telling people to “just be quiet and see what happens next” until the parliament proposes a constitutional amendment, which amounts to neglecting the principle of popular sovereignty.

If the ruling coalition and its supporting forces press forward with discussions on constitutional revision, they will inevitably meet with strong opposition from the general public.

Past related article:
> Abe intends to change Constitution but says nothing about it in kickoff speech [June 23, 2016]