Japan’s PM wants change to pacifist constitution

JAPANESE prime minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected as head of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party in a landslide, paving the way for up to three more years as the nation’s leader and a push toward a constitutional revision.

The decisive victory may embolden Mr Abe to pursue his long-sought amendment to Japan’s US-drafted pacifist constitution, although doing so would carry political risks.

“It’s time to tackle a constitutional revision,” Mr Abe said in yesterday’s victory speech.

Mr Abe said he was determined to use his last term to “sum up” Japan’s post-war diplomacy to ensure peace in the country.

“Let’s work together to make a new Japan,” he said.

Mr Abe, who has been prime minister since December 2012, has cemented control of his party and is poised to become Japan’s longestserving leader in August 2021.

He has several policy challenges, including dealing with Japan’s ageing and declining population, a royal succession in the spring, and a consumption tax hike to 10% he has already delayed twice.

Mr Abe renewed his commitment to push for a revision to the US-drafted 1947 constitution, a decades-old pledge of the Liberal Democratic Party since its foundation in 1955.

Many conservatives see the constitution as a humiliation imposed on Japan after its World War II defeat.

Mr Abe seeks to submit a draft constitution revision to a parliamentary session later this year. He is proposing to add a clause to Article Nine, which bans the use of force in settling international disputes, to explicitly permit the existence of Japan’s military, now called the Self-Defence Force.