Japanese split on citing military in constitution

TOKYO: Poll results show that about half of Japan’s population supports a constitutional revision that would clarify the legality of the country’s military, a new approach Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is proposing as his party struggles to gain public support for a change.

Abe proposed recently that Japan in some way indicate the existence of the Self-Defence Forces, which is not spelled out in Article 9 of the constitution. The article renounces war and the use of force to settle international disputes.

He made the proposal this month in what was seen as a compromise, but opponents see it as a step to justify expanding Japan’s military capabilities.

In the Nikkei newspaper poll, 51% of 1,595 respondents supported including a reference to the Self-Defence Forces in Article 9. Thirtysix per cent were opposed.

Recent polls by other major media outlets also showed mixed results.

Japan decided it had the right under the 1947 constitution to have a military for self-defence, but some legal experts have questioned that, though fewer people do so now.

Abe and his party have maintained the constitutionality of the Self-Defence Forces, saying every nation has the right of self-defence as allowed under the United Nations charter. Citing his party’s position, opponents have grown sceptical over Abe’s latest proposal and intention of bringing up the Self-Defence Force legality issue.

Japan’s ruling party has long advocated a more drastic revision, but the public generally supports the war-renouncing article.

The party and its nationalistic supporters view the country’s post-war constitution as the legacy of Japan’s defeat in World War II and an imposition of the victor’s world order and values weighing too much on individuals’ rights. — AP