Abe to remake strategy to tackle constitutional reform

July 22, 2019

Tokyo--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to reconstruct his strategy to tackle constitutional reform after the reformist camp lost a two-thirds majority in the House of Councillors in Sunday's election.

In the 245-seat upper chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, the reformist forces of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its junior coalition partner, Komeito, and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) fell slightly short of the minimum number of seats required to propose constitutional reform.

Abe is expected to call for cooperation from some opposition lawmakers to meet the requirement so that he can realize his goal of putting a revised constitution into force in 2020.

But it is uncertain whether things will progress as he wishes.

"We were told by nationals to hold discussions properly," Abe said of constitutional reform on television Sunday night just after the election.

But he indicated that he will not stick to his schedule.

Abe is taking aim at conservative members of the opposition Democratic Party for the People. Even before the July 4 start of the election campaign period, Abe said that some DPFP members support constitutional reform.

The prime minister's office is believed to have given support to a DPFP candidate who ran in the Shizuoka prefectural constituency.

"There are (DPFP) lawmakers who look ready to cooperate" with the Abe-led constitutional reform, said an LDP member who once served as minister.

A senior DPFP member has expressed a willingness to discuss constitutional amendments while showing reluctance to revise the constitution's war-renouncing Article 9.

In a TV program Sunday night, DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki said his position is that "discussions on the constitution should be carried out actively."

"No matter what the LDP's four-point constitutional revision proposal may be, I'd like to point out problems during discussions," Tamaki continued.

Meanwhile, a DPFP veteran lawmaker of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, said that the party's possible cooperation with the LDP would be tantamount to "self-destruction."

"We'll keep our stance unchanged after the election," a senior member of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan says. "We'll benefit if the LDP takes up the constitution again in the next Lower House election."

In or after an extraordinary Diet session expected for autumn, the LDP is seen accelerating moves to narrow down items to be revised in the constitution and enact a bill to revise the national referendum law to improve the convenience of voters.

If the DPFP accepts discussions on constitutional reform with the ruling camp, it may become difficult for other opposition forces to refuse to join such debates.

The CDPJ is likely to step up its resistance to the LDP initiative by calling for debates on restrictions on TV commercials for referendums.

Komeito is unwilling to team up with opposition lawmakers just to secure a two-thirds majority in the upper chamber.

Party leader Natsuo Yamaguchi made no mention of constitutional reform during the Upper House election campaign period, according to party members.

"I wonder if there is any need at all" to recognize the existence of the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 as sought by Abe, Yamaguchi said on TV on Sunday night. "We need to hold further discussions." Jiji Press