Japan Press Weekly

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2008 February 13 - 19 [SDF]

JCP chair calls for struggle against permanent law to dispatch SDF abroad

At a news conference in the Diet on February 14, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo criticized the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan for moving to get a permanent law to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces abroad enacted.

Shii stated, “It is very important to develop a struggle to stop their attempt to destroy the Japanese Constitution through an enactment of the permanent law.”

Referring to the news that an LDP panel on February 13 began discussing the enactment of the permanent law, Shii pointed out that the law is essentially aimed at “providing the legal framework for deploying the Self-Defense Forces abroad whenever and wherever the government deems it prudent to do so.”

He also forewarned that the advocates of the permanent law are trying to ease the present rule that restricts the use of firearms for “self-defense” and enable the Self-Defense Forces to use them as part of exercising their duties.

Pointing out that the DPJ bill which has been carried over from the previous Diet session has striking similarities to the LDP plan, Shii said that the JCP will do all it can to develop the struggle to block the permanent law.