LDP Approves Constitutional Amendment Draft Including 'Self-Defense Forces' in Constitution'

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has approved a summary of constitutional amendment issues that includes provisions such as explicitly stating the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to Kyodo News and NHK on the 2nd, the LDP held a meeting of the Headquarters for Realization of Constitutional Amendment at its Tokyo party headquarters and approved the summary of constitutional amendment issues concerning the explicit mention of the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution and the introduction of emergency provisions. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the party president, also attended the meeting.

The summary proposes a plan to maintain Articles 9(1) and 9(2) of the constitution, which are central to the amendment discussions, while adding new clauses to explicitly mention the Self-Defense Forces.

Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, known as the Peace Constitution, contains in paragraph 1 the permanent renunciation of war and the use of force, and in paragraph 2 the denial of possession of land, sea, and air forces as well as the state's right to wage war.

Due to these provisions, there have been criticisms that the Self-Defense Forces, which function as a de facto military, violate the constitution. In response, the LDP is pushing for a constitutional amendment to explicitly recognize the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution.

Additionally, the summary includes the establishment of emergency provisions, defining large-scale disasters, armed attacks, and widespread infectious diseases as emergencies, allowing the government to issue emergency ordinances with the same effect as laws without parliamentary approval.

The LDP plans to quickly proceed with drafting the amendment bill based on the summary and submit it to the National Diet.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Kishida stated, "I will ensure that the new prime minister can definitely continue the (constitutional amendment) work," and added, "I want to unite the power of the LDP to realize constitutional revision."

Kishida has decided not to run in the LDP presidential election scheduled for the 27th. This election is effectively regarded as the contest to choose Japan's next prime minister. In Japan's parliamentary system, the leader of the majority party becomes prime minister, and the LDP is currently the ruling party.