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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

LDP and Komei submit bill for holding national referendum to revise Constitution

The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on May 26 submitted a bill to establish procedures for holding a national referendum and amend the Diet Law with a view to adversely revising the Constitution. In the 59 years since the Constitution was enacted, this is the first time that a bill on procedures for amending the Constitution has ever been submitted to the Diet. The Democratic Party of Japan also submitted to the Diet a bill on constitutional revision procedures.

The LDP-Komei bill for constitutional revision to take effect states that the required "majority support" should be calculated based on the votes cast, making it easier for constitutional amendments to be approved.

Asked to comment on the submission of the national referendum bills by the ruling parties and the DPJ at a press conference on the same day, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo said: "It's unacceptable for them to submit such important bills concerning the Constitution in the final stage of the Diet session with only three weeks left before the current session expires." He stressed that discussing procedures will directly lead to discussing constitutional revision and said, "It is unconscionable for the bills to be submitted for enactment in a bustle of the ordinary session of the Diet nearing an end."

Shii stressed that the LDP-Komei bill is not just legislating formalities but is directly linked to the aim of removing the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution in order to turn Japan into a country that fights wars abroad. Shii stated, "We are absolutely opposed to the bill. It is unacceptable for such a bill to be submitted to the Diet in such a way. We demand that the bill be retracted."
- Akahata, May 27, 2006