Ruling parties propose amending the 'Bill to Respond to Armed Attacks'

The three ruling parties (Liberal Democratic, Komei, and the Conservative parties) on December 10 submitted their proposal for amendments to the three bills "to Respond to Armed Attacks" to the House of Representatives, apparently with a view to getting the wartime legislation enacted in the Diet session next year. The struggle over the war bills has come to a new critical phase, reported Akahata on December 11.

A major change was made in the definition of the "situation for responding to incidents involving armed attacks." The bills previously assumed three stages of "predicted," "potential," and "breaking out," while the amendments provide two stages of the "breaking out of armed attacks," and a newly added "armed attacks being predicted."

Another point of change is that they call for measures to deal with terrorism and unidentified ships, and for establishing headquarters to adjust legislation to control the public under the pretext of "maintaining the security."

Changes involve the redefinition of an essential part of the bills. Therefore, the ruling parties themselves revealed how defective these bills are, Akahata said.

Notwithstanding the amendment, there is no change in the dangerous nature of the bills, the aim being to allow Japan to take part in U.S. wars, send the Self-Defense Forces overseas, engage in public mobilization, and implement the contingency laws even when "armed attacks on Japan are (only) being predicted," Akahata editorialized.

At the executive board meeting of the House of Representatives Special Committee on Contingency Bills on the same day, Kijima Hideo of the Japanese Communist Party demanded that the government refrain from making explanations on the bills in the committee. Such bills must be withdrawn, he stated.

In the meeting of December 5, the three ruling party leaders resolved to "enact the bills" in the next ordinary Diet session. (end)