Japanese PM Kishida looks to amend pacifist constitution

Tokyo [Japan], July 11 (ANI/Xinhua): Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday he would like to push forward efforts to revise Japan's pacifist constitution "as soon as possible."

"I would like to push forward efforts that would lead to the proposal as soon as possible," Kishida told a press briefing.

His controversial remarks came after his ruling party Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a sweeping victory in Sunday's upper house election.

The LDP won 63 out of the 125 seats being vied for, while its junior coalition partner Komeito gained 13 seats. In all, the LDP and Komeito secured a total of 76 seats, retaining a majority in the 248-member upper chamber of parliament.

The pro-constitutional amendment forces, comprising the LDP-Komeito coalition, two opposition parties and independents, have crossed the 166-seat threshold needed to push for the first-ever revision of the 1947 Constitution, including amending the war-renouncing Article 9.

For the ruling party to propose a revision to the constitution, a two-thirds majority is required in both chambers of Japan's bicameral parliament before a national referendum on the matter.

Kishida also vowed to build on the legacy of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving leader whose controversial and legacy-led goal was to revise the Constitution and ultimately remilitarize Japan.

Abe, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020, was shot dead on Friday by an ex-Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) worker while he was delivering a speech in the western prefecture of Nara.

Many in Japan have opposed any changes being made to Article 9 of the constitution, which has essentially guaranteed Japan peace and security since its defeat at the end of World War II.

Jun Azumi, the Diet affairs chief of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, has lambasted the ruling LDP for its consistent push to thwart the nation's Supreme Charter, stating that the defence ministry's plans to bolster its capabilities run contrary to the country's postwar defence policy. (ANI/Xinhua)