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2016 January 20 - 26 [POLITICS]

Abe in his policy speech shuts his ears to public criticism of war legislation

Akahata editorial (excerpt)

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on January 22 delivered a policy speech before the Diet. This is Abe’s first parliamentary speech after the forcible enactment of the controversial war legislation in September 2015 and the following Cabinet reshuffle as he rejected opposition parties’ request to convene an extraordinary session of the Diet. Even after the enactment of the legislation, Abe promised to keep providing explanations about the issue, but he failed to carry out his promise. In the policy speech, Abe just said that the government will make all the needed preparations for the full implementation of the war legislation and did not present further information about the laws. The prime minister seems to have no intention to strictly abide by the Constitution and respond to public criticism.

The Abe Cabinet overturned the long-held constitutional interpretation that bans Japan’s use of the collective self-defense right and forced through the war legislation which paves the way for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces’ participation in wars abroad. With citizens’ anger against the war laws growing, the prime minister said that he will make efforts to obtain consent from the public. Given that Abe refused to hold Diet discussions on this issue for months, he should have explained about the controversial legislation more thoroughly in the policy speech.

Prime Minister Abe, however, touched on the issue only briefly at the last minute. Taking a so-what attitude toward public opposition against the war legislation, he insisted that the legislation for peace and security is receiving favorable responses from the international community and that it is totally unreasonable to label it as war legislation.

The war legislation, however, is far from being welcomed by the Japanese public. Various opinion polls show that the majority of respondents are opposed to the legislation. Abe keeps ignoring public criticism and refuses to provide further explanations. He declared in his policy speech that the Japanese government will gear up to implement the war legislation in its totality. His handling of this issue goes directly against the principles of democracy.

After taking power in 2012, PM Abe introduced the state secrets protection bill and the war bills to the Diet while giving no explanations in his policy speeches. The same is true this year, Abe cited the need for preparation for the war legislation without going detail about the preparations. Reportedly, the use of arms by SDF troops in UN Peace Keeping Operations in South Sudan and the SDF’s support for the “Coalition of the Willing” members conducting airstrikes in the Middle East are expected. However, he avoided mentioning any of these moves. The dangerous intent of the Abe government is becoming blindingly obvious.