Tokyo: Controversial security bills that opponents say will undermine 70 years of pacifism and could see Japanese troops fighting abroad for the first time since World War II passed through the powerful lower house of parliament today. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition was left alone to vote after all main opposition parties walked out of the chamber in protest, a move intended to reflect widespread public anger over the legislation.
“The security situation surrounding Japan is increasingly severe,” Abe told reporters after the vote, in an apparent reference to the rise of China. “These bills are necessary to protect Japanese people’s lives and prevent a war before it breaks out.” The vote came a day after as many as 60,000 people took part in a rally outside parliament, after the bills — which will give Japan’s tightly-restricted military greater scope to act — were pushed through a key lower house panel. There were scuffles as police pushed protestors back, and two men in their 60s were arrested on suspicion of assaulting officers, local media said.
Demonstrations in Japan are usually small and very orderly, but the issue has galvanised opposition across a wide swathe of the population. The bills — a hotchpotch of updates to existing provisions that will allow, amongst other things, Japan’s military to take part in non-United Nations peacekeeping missions — now go to the upper chamber. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner have a majority in that house, but commentators say it is possible the chamber could reject, or amend the bills. However, the lower house can overturn those changes with a two-thirds majority — well within the scope of what Abe controls.
The prime minister, a robust nationalist, wants what he calls a normalisation of Japan’s military posture, which has been constrained by a constitution imposed by US occupiers after World War II. Unable to muster support to amend clauses enshrining pacifism, Abe opted instead to re-interpret the document for the purpose of his bills, ignoring warnings from scholars and lawyers that his bills are unconstitutional. While today’s vote represents a victory for Abe, there are growing signs that the campaign has taken a political toll — opinion polls show the vast majority of the public is against the bills, and Abe’s approval rating is dropping.
