Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed his determination to realize constitutional revision on four items, including stipulating constitutional grounds for the Self-Defense Forces.
Constitutional revision is "a task the party has faced since its establishment, and we want to solve it in this generation," Abe said Saturday at a meeting at party headquarters of the secretaries general of local branches of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. "We want to produce a result."
Abe also serves as LDP president.
Regarding the alteration by the Finance Ministry of documents related to the sale of state land to school operator Moritomo Gakuen, the prime minister expressed regret, saying, "I'm painfully aware of the grave responsibility as the head of the administrative branch."
"I'm resolved to thoroughly examine why such a problem occurred, clarify the whole picture and fundamentally rebuild the [administrative] organization so that such a problem never happens again," he added.
Prior to the meeting, party executives -- including Hiroyuki Hosoda, who serves as chairperson of the Headquarters for the Promotion of Revision of the Constitution -- held a meeting for senior officials of the party's prefectural branches and presented a draft for constitutional revision of four items.
The party executives explained that their proposal on the stipulation of the SDF in the Constitution -- under which Article 9 will be retained and the existence of the SDF will be stipulated in a new "Article 9-2" -- is a priority for the party.
Hosoda has been assigned to compile a revision draft for the party, and plans to base the text mainly on this proposal.
During the meeting, other opinions in the party were also cited. One calls for eliminating a reference setting forth the non-possession of war potential in Paragraph 2 of Article 9 and stipulating the existence of the SDF.
The party executives also presented specific draft provisions on three other items: the improvement of education; handling of emergency situations; and the elimination of merged constituencies in the House of Councillors elections. The party has reached agreement on these three items.
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