Editorial: Revision of Japan's Constitution must not be driven by political calculations
In a recent special Diet session in Japan, discussions on constitutional revision were held almost every week. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LD
In recent weeks, the Japanese Diet has convened multiple special sessions to discuss revising the country's constitution. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is pushing for this change with great urgency. However, the public remains largely unaware of the reasons behind the need for constitutional revision. Key players, like the LDP, are advocating for an amendment that would allow for the extension of terms for House of Representatives members in case holding an election proves difficult due to a major disaster or similar situation.
The lower house's Legislative Bureau introduced a draft outline of potential wording to the chamber's Constitution Commission in May. The LDP plans to use this as a foundation for drafting specific language. For the first time ever, the final meeting of the lower house's constitutional commission was broadcast live on the public broadcaster NHK, thanks to the efforts of various political parties.
The LDP aims to generate public interest by emphasizing that they will "work on drafting articles with all possible speed." Meanwhile, the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance expresses concerns over potential abuse, emphasizing that the measure must not be used to extend the life of an administration or protect the positions of lawmakers.
Despite these concerns, the LDP believes that extending lawmakers' terms is not an urgent issue. They have exploited the coronavirus pandemic to argue that elections might become impossible to hold due to an outbreak of a contagious disease. The LDP also views this as less of a challenge than revising Article 9, which renounces war, and considers this to be their main target.
The current Constitution does provide provisions for emergency sessions of the House of Councillors to maintain the Diet's functions during emergencies. Consequently, there is a strong caution on the side of the upper house. Public interest in this matter is relatively low. A recent Mainichi Shimbun poll found that 38% of respondents were unsure about their stance, while 29% believed that extending the terms of lower house members was unnecessary.
The LDP, which secured a significant victory in the lower house election in February, holds the two-thirds of seats necessary to initiate constitutional revision. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated at a party convention in April that "the time has come" and declared her intention to create the conditions for proposing a revision by next spring.
However, in the upper house, ruling parties do not hold a majority. Without a clear path to initiate revisions in the chamber and subsequently move onto a national referendum ballot, attempting to produce proposals appears to be an effort to bolster support for the LDP among conservatives. The supreme law of the nation should not be compromised by political calculations.
The first step should be to deepen the debate on whether there are gaps in the current legal system, which should be examined carefully without setting a deadline.
Written by urgent.news from The Mainichi's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
