July 28, 2015
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2015 July 22 - 28 [POLITICS]
Discussions on war bills begin in Upper House |
Following the plenary session, the House special committee on “security” legislation will begin full-fledged deliberations. The government and ruling parties are aiming to enact the bills by mid-September.
In the plenary session, JCP Ichida regarded the forcible passage of the bills through the Lower House as a historic event flagrantly infringing upon postwar Japan’s constitutionalism. He emphasized that the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution has functioned as a guarantee of safety in regard to Japan’s activities for international “contribution”.
The Democratic Party of Japan has increased its opposition against the ruling force. DPJ legislator Kitazawa Toshimi in the session said, “The general public wants the scrapping of the bills, not a counterproposal.” He expressed the party’s determination to have the bills scrapped at any cost.
Soon after the general election late last year, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo was saying that the bills in question “were obviously a major election issue” and that the bills had “gained strong public support”. However, the LDP during the election campaign at that time did not talk about the bills at all, trying hard to prevent them from becoming a focal issue.
At the same time as interpellations by each political party were taking place in the Diet, about 400 citizens gathered outside the House of Councilors Members’ Office Building. They shouted in chorus, “No war”! JCP member of the House of Councilors Tamura Tomoko gave a speech in solidarity. She said, “Let us unite in and out of the Diet to bury the bills!”
Past related articles:
> LDP steamrollers war bills through Lower House [July 17, 2015]
> Abe makes New Year resolution to force through all his policies [January 6, 2015]
> Ruling parties’ ‘major victory’ in general election is pure fiction [December 16, 2014]
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