 Constitutional Research Commission must end without any proposal for amendment: JCP The Japanese Communist Party in the Diet has demanded that the House of Representatives Research Commission on the Constitution end its work after submitting a final report to the House Speaker, without mentioning proposals made during the discussion aimed at amending the Constitution. JCP Representative Yamaguchi Tomio stated this during the free discussion held on February 24 to conclude the Commission's discussion that began in January 2000. Yamaguchi said, "The Commission is not authorized to submit bills because its stated aim is not to discuss amending the Constitution or the particular direction of its amendments." He also pointed out that the Commission has avoided making an effort to discovering the reasons for the gap between the Constitution and the reality. Yamaguchi stressed that many statements made at the public hearings held in 9 local cities and twice in Tokyo were in favor of the Constitution. "Some spoke about the suffering they experienced in the atomic bombing or the 'Battle on Okinawa.'" Yamaguchi criticized the Liberal Democratic, Komei, and Democratic parties for attempting to use the Commission's final report to sort out opinions expressed in the discussion in favor of constitutional revision. Stating that "making such a report runs counter to the Commission's mission," he demanded that the Commission not deal with anything concerning constitutional amendments. "The research commission must end all its activities after submitting its report, taking the procedures of their activities to the House of Representatives Speaker," said Yamaguchi. However, lawmakers from the LDP, Komei, and DPJ insisted that the report should be a report that paves the way for constitutional revision, and that the Diet should require the Commission to discuss the bill on a national referendum on constitutional revision. * * * At the commission meeting on the same day, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Yasuo (LDP) stated that the Preamble of the Constitution is "self-torturous." This was echoed by other LDP and Komei Dietmembers who called for making an overall constitutional review. (end) |