Japan Press Weekly

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2017 August 30 - September 5 [POLITICS]

30 million-signature campaign launched to defeat PM Abe’s attempt to revise Article 9

A popular movement seeking to collect 30 million signatures to thwart PM Abe’s intent to revise Article 9 of the Constitution started on September 4.

The newly-organized movement consists of individuals, labor unions, and various pro-constitution groups, including the Article 9 Association and the Association of Scholars Opposed to the Security-related Laws.

On that day, four of 19 initiators of the movement including Nobel laureate Masukawa Toshihide held a press conference in the House of Representatives Members’ Office building.

One of the four, Journalist Sataka Makoto said that under the situation in which PM Abe is attempting to initiate constitutional revision, it is necessary to attract support from a broader range of people for the movement to defeat this attempt.

Hitotsubashi University Professor Emeritus Watanabe Osamu, who is also the secretary general of the Article 9 Association, expressed his determination to work even harder to protect the Constitution.

The organization will hold a rally in Tokyo on September 8 to announce a kick-off of the 30 million-signature drive. In addition to the signature-collection campaign, it plans to co-host the monthly 19th day of protest against the Abe government in front of the Diet building and strengthen joint struggles to oppose the revision of Article 9.