Abe shows his determination to achieve adverse revision of Constitution during his term of office

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Abe shows his determination to achieve adverse revision of Constitution during his term of office

In a recent interview with the Financial Times and other foreign media, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo expressed his determination to achieve the revision of the Constitution within his maximum term of office of six years as the Liberal Democratic Party president.

He attacked Article 9 by saying, "Speaking of provisions that no longer fit the times, one typical example would be Article 9."

This is the first time that a prime minister has ever provided a specific time frame for a constitutional revision. His remarks also revealed that his real aim of constitutional revision is to scrap Article 9.

An incumbent prime minister's declaration of his intention to rewrite the Constitution during his term of office constitutes a breach of his duty to respect and uphold the Constitution.

Abe said, "I judge that it is incumbent upon us to exercise leadership and put the constitution amendment on the political agenda."

As reasons why he thinks the revision of the Constitution is needed, he pointed out as follows:

"The first is that the current Constitution was written before Japan became independent after the war. The second point is that with 60 years past, there are provisions within the Constitution that no longer befit the reality of the day. Third, new values have emerged since and I believe that by taking up those values and to encourage the spirit of writing our own constitution, we shall be able to open up a new era for Japan."

With regard to Article 9, he said, "I believe this article needs to be revised from the viewpoint of defending Japan, and also in order to comply with the international expectation that Japan make international contributions."

Abe's remarks showed that a constitutional revision is actually aimed at turning Japan into a nation able to wage wars abroad in response to U.S. requests.

Even under Article 9, successive LDP governments have forcibly dispatched Self-Defense Forces overseas as part of United Nations peacekeeping operations, and to the Indian Ocean and Iraq.

Article 9, however, has prevented them from using force abroad.

Abe intends to revise the Constitution in order to establish a setup in which the SDF as a fully legitimate armed forces can fight wars abroad together with U.S. forces.
- Akahata, November 2, 2006