357 local assemblies adopt resolution against wartime legislation

As of June 30, 357 local assemblies have adopted a resolution either opposing the wartime legislation or demanding more careful discussions on the bills in the Diet, according to a survey by the Liaison Council of Various Workshops against Contingency Legislation.

The number is much larger than the 279, the number of local assemblies which adopted similar resolutions in 1999 against the law to deal with situations in areas surrounding Japan.

In Nagano Prefecture, 86 percent of all local assemblies have adopted resolutions calling for the wartime bills either to be withdrawn or discussed more carefully in the Diet.

Many of these assemblies point out that the discussion in the Diet has revealed the dangerous nature of the bills. The statement of the Katsuragawa Town Assembly in Fukuoka Prefecture stated, "The Diet discussion clearly shows that the legislation is to change Japan into a war nation that violates citizens' democratic rights and freedom, and mobilizes them for U.S. wars." (end)