Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday expressed his strong desire to end the debate on constitutional reform within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party through its presidential election in September. His intention is to win the race in a landslide for a third consecutive term and launch a Diet initiative to revise the Constitution by the time a House of Councillors election is held next summer.
In a speech given Sunday in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Abe stressed that he will make the issue a major point of contention in the presidential election. "Revising the Constitution is something every party member really wishes to achieve," the prime minister said. "Whoever becomes president, the party must fulfill that responsibility."
Abe aims to have the LDP's proposal on constitutional revision regarding the Self-Defense Forces conform to his own opinions.
When the LDP compiled its opinions on this issue with respect to four specific items this March, the party proposed keeping Paragraph 2 of Article 9, which bans maintaining war potential, but said a new separate clause should be created to stipulate the retention of the SDF.
The proposal presented this idea -- which matches Abe's stance -- as a "leading" opinion, but also mentioned another position that calls for deleting Paragraph 2, which is supported by many members of the LDP.
Former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba is among the leading figures who advocate eliminating Paragraph 2. The LDP compiled a draft for constitutional revision in 2012, which deleted Article 9's Paragraph 2. Ishiba has described this draft as a "LDP proposal, not my own," because it has not been modified so far.
During Sunday's speech, Abe stressed that his party should "accelerate its work to devise its own revision proposal." This indicates his resolve to achieve a landslide victory over Ishiba in next month's LDP presidential election so he can "put a final end to intraparty debate" on this issue, according to a party member who is a close aide to Abe.
Abe has advocated the preservation of Paragraph 2 of Article 9 based on the belief that this approach -- which does not change the current interpretation of the SDF as "an organization with the minimum necessary level of power" -- makes it easier for him to win support from Komeito, which takes a cautious stance over constitutional revision, as well as many members of the public.
During the speech, Abe emphasized he has a realistic approach, saying: "Results matter in politics. I'll realize constitutional revision by winning agreements from a wide range [of people]."
Abe's stance was rebuffed later on Sunday by Ishiba, who told reporters in Tokyo that he thinks the Constitution should not be reviewed if no change is made in the interpretation of the SDF. He believes that maintaining Paragraph 2 of Article 9 would not dispel the argument that the SDF represents the maintainence of armed forces and is therefore unconstitutional.
When announcing his candidacy for the presidential election on Friday, Ishiba said, "I have no intention to flee from discussions." During the race, he will call for constitutional revision that would pave the way for the top law to recognize the SDF as "armed forces" and include stipulations on their role for national defense and in maintaining peace in the international community.
Ishiba aims to win wider support -- including from rank-and-file LDP members -- because some people in the party, mainly conservatives, support his stance, considering it ideal to delete Paragraph 2.
How to proceed with discussions on revising the top law will also likely become a point of issue in the presidential election.
Abe and Ishiba have clear differences in their positions. During Sunday's speech, the prime minister discussed improving the education system and stipulating the SDF in the Constitution -- two of the four items his party has worked out for top law revision.
In contrast, Ishiba described the other two issues as the most pressing: dissolving merged constituencies for the upper house elections and establishing a provision for a state of emergency. He also said revising Article 9 was not that urgent.
Abe is picturing a scenario in which he wins the LDP presidential election by a large margin not just among its Diet members, but also rank-and-file party members, and presents the party's proposal for constitutional revision during the extraordinary Diet session this autumn, before the legislative body initiates the issue during its ordinary session next summer.
Currently, the ruling bloc, Nippon Ishin no Kai and other pro-revision forces hold a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the Diet, whose approval is required for the body to initiate constitutional revision.
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