Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner won a majority of contested seats in Japan’s parliamentary election Sunday, opening a path for them to amend Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution.
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Abe’s coalition and allies obtained two-thirds of the seats in the upper house of parliament which, with the ruling bloc’s super majority in the lower house, could allow them to revise the document.
“Our party has already submitted a draft for reforming the constitution”.
Japan, which is constitutionally barred from waging offensive war, previous year passed new laws that could, under certain circumstances, see its troops fight overseas for the first time since the end of WWII.
TOKYO (AP) Japan’s prime minister is counting on the upper house election Sunday to show support for his economic revival policies, while the opposition is asking voters to reject any turn toward a more assertive military role.
In another disastrous night for Japan’s opposition parties, Abe’s coalition was on the brink of securing a two-thirds majority in both houses of the national Diet. “So it’s not immediately clear to me what form constitutional revision would take”. That in theory gives him the long-coveted supermajorities required before asking voters for their approval to change a constitution that has never been amended.
As of midnight local time (11pm Singapore time), the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito won 66 of the 121 seats up for grabs.
By undertaking several constitutional revisions, LDP lawmakers apparently hope the nation will get used to the political processes involved, paving way for revision of Article 9 in the future, critics say. While he declined to comment on the amount of such a stimulus package, one of his advisers recently called for 20 trillion yen ($199 billion) to be spent in the current fiscal year.
Shinzo Abe (fifth from left) answers reporters’ questions during counting for the upper house election on 10 July.
Voters have also expressed misgivings about his cherished dream of making changes to the country’s constitution, imposed by the United States after Japan’s defeat in World War II and which prohibits it from waging war. A referendum, however, would be needed and many Japanese still support the the country’s pacifist stance.
Voter turnout was estimated at 53.66 percent, slightly higher than the 52.61 percent in the previous upper house election in 2013.
Exit polls suggested 18- and 19-year-olds, who were eligible for the first time, voted in roughly the same proportion as their elders.
With his coalition having a two-thirds majority in the lower house, Abe will come under pressure from conservative backers to push ahead with constitutional revision.
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Many in the public have been critical of Prime Minister Abe and his party’s desire to change the constitution to loosen restrictions over military activities.
