Japan's Abe to change post-war constitution

Japan's Abe to change post-war constitution
Thursday, 31 January, 2013, 11:02am
Agence France-Presse in Tokyo

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Photo: AP

Japan?s hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament on Thursday that he intends to change the country?s post-second world war constitution, lowering the bar for further amendments.

?I will start with amending Article 96 of the constitution, a move that many factions [inside his Liberal Democratic Party] support ? Abe told upper house lawmakers, referring to the clause stipulating amendments require a two-thirds majority in parliament.

In the run-up to his landslide election victory in December, Abe said he wanted to study the possibility of altering the definition of Japan?s armed forces contained in the document.

The country?s well-funded and well-equipped military is referred to as the Self-Defence Forces, and barred from taking aggressive action. Its role is limited to defence of the nation.

Abe has said he would like to look into making the SDF into a full-fledged military, a plan that sets alarm bells ringing in Asian countries subject to Japan?s sometimes-brutal occupation in the first half of the 20th century.

US occupying forces imposed the constitution in the aftermath of the second world war, but its war-renouncing Article Nine is held dear by many Japanese.

Japan's Abe to change post-war constitution | South China Morning Post

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/china-far-east/232465-japans-abe-change-post-war-constitution.html

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