Japan's ruling party forces security bills through committee amid scuffle with opposition
Source: Associated Press
Japan's ruling party pushed contentious security bills through a legislative committee Thursday, catching the opposition by surprise and causing chaos in the chamber.
Opposition lawmakers surged toward the chairman's seat as they realized something was up after ruling party legislators had gathered at the podium to protect him.
As the scrum intensified, ruling party lawmakers still in their seats stood up to signal their support for the legislation, though there didn't appear to be an audible announcement of what they were voting on.
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"You saw the scene. We do not recognize there was a vote. How can you tell what happened, what the chairman was calling?" said Tetsuro Fukuyama, committee leader for the Democratic Party of Japan.
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Read more: http://www.startribune.com/japan-diet-panel-to-vote-on-military-bills-amid-protests/327826671/
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"Anyone who understands the basic principle of the constitution cannot help but oppose the legislation," Aki Okuda, a leader of the group Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracies, told reporters. "It's ridiculous, and the bills' legal questions have fueled the people's anger."
EDITORIAL: Passage of security legislation will only start long, grueling constitutional debate
The political battle over government-drafted national security legislation between the ruling and opposition camps has reached its final phase amid mounting public protests.
The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is determined to ram the legislation through the Diet this week.
Battle lines formed in July last year after the Abe Cabinet opened the door to Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense by changing the government's longstanding interpretation of war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution. Successive administrations had concluded Japan cannot exercise that right unless the Constitution is amended.
Since then, many experts, including constitutional scholars and former chiefs of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, have repeatedly taken issue with the legitimacy of the dubious step taken by the Abe administration.
ABE'S BACKDOOR APPROACH
Shigeru Yamaguchi, retired chief justice of the Supreme Court, dealt a fatal blow by stating: “The conventional interpretation of Article 9 has taken root as a norm, and if the government wants to change it, it must do it fairly and squarely by amending the Constitution to obtain public support.”
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/editorial/AJ201509170050
Upper house panel approves contentious defense bills amid chaos
TOKYO —
Japan took a step on Thursday toward enacting legislation for a policy shift that would allow troops to fight abroad for the first time since World War Two, part of the prime minister’s agenda to loosen the limits of a pacifist constitution.
The security policy shift, which Abe says is vital to meet challenges such as a rising China, has sparked protests and sharply eroded his popular support.
Opponents argue it violates the constitution and fear it could ensnare Japan in U.S.-led conflicts.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party member Masahisa Sato told NHK public TV that an upper house panel had approved the bills after a chaotic session, carried live on television, in which opposition lawmakers tried physically to block the vote, saying the vote was unacceptable.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/upper-house-panel-approves-contentious-defense-bills-amid-chaos
