Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2011 May 25 - 31 [POLITICS]

LDP & DPJ will establish bipartisan group to relax requirements for constitutional revision

The Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party are jointly increasing their effort to call on lawmakers to submit a draft bill to revise Article 96 of the Constitution setting requirements for constitutional revision.

The Article 96 stipulates, “Amendments to this Constitution shall be initiated by the Diet, through a concurring vote of two-thirds or more of all the members of each House […].”

Pro-constitutional revision lawmakers of DPJ and LDP intend to ease this requirement from the current two-thirds or more to just a majority.

In a statement inviting sponsors of the draft bill, they said that the revision of Article 96 is necessary “to increase the possibility of constitutional revision to keep up with the times and to enable the Diet to propose amending the Constitution flexibly.”

They also said that they want to get the Deliberative Councils on the Constitution in both chambers started by submitting the draft bill, and to take the first step in revising the Constitution.

DPJ and LDP Dietmembers also plan to establish a bipartisan group for the revision of Article 96 during the current ordinary session of the Diet.

Former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary and one of 12 LDP promoters of the group Shimomura Hakubun (House of Representatives) in a rally calling for a constitutional revision on May 3 openly said that the true aim to revise Article 96 is the revision of Article 9 of the Constitution.