Japan Press Weekly

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2018 May 16 - 22 [POLITICS]

JCP and bar association share view that democracy in Japan weakened under Abe regime

The Japanese Communist Party and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations on May 17 held a meeting in Tokyo in which they shared the view that democracy and constitutionalism in Japan are in serious danger under the government led by Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

Those attending the meeting were, from the JFBA, President Kikuchi Yutaro, 13 vice presidents, and other officials, and from the JCP, Chair Shii Kazuo, Secretariat Head Koike Akira, and 10 Dietmembers.

Murakoshi Susumu, the director of the JFBA’s political arm, said that the current situation in the Diet makes him feel that the nation’s democracy is endangered. Recalling how hard the bar association worked in opposition to the enactment of the national security legislation (the so-called war laws), Murakoshi pointed to the significance of the JFBA’s efforts.

Shii cited the corruption of the Abe government revealed by the Moritomo and Kake favoritism scandals and the case involving falsification of official documents, and said that democracy in Japan is in crisis. Shii went on to say that at the root of this situation lies the forcible enactment of the war laws that the Abe government carried out by overturning the conventional constitutional interpretation which argues that Japan’s use of the right to collective self-defense is banned under Article 9.

Shii also pointed out that constitutionalism is based on protecting individual dignity and respecting human rights, and that the Abe government has been undermining this principle, which forms the background to the recent sexual-harassment scandal involving a finance ministry bureaucrat. Shii added that continued cooperation between the JCP and the JFBA on this matter is important.

Shii referred to the evolution of the issues of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and building peace in Northeast Asia. Shii said, “The success of this peace initiative may drastically change the current security environment in the region. World opinion against war has brought about the recent progress.”

Past related article:
> JCP & JFBA confirm cooperation to block war legislation [May 16, 2015]