An overwhelming win in the upper house elections of Japan has put Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a favorable spot to pursue his economic plan and push for a controversial constitutional reform. Abe’s party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), won 56 of the 121 contested seats. Together with the 14 seats garnered by its junior coalition partner Komeito, plus supporters of constitutional revision and uncontested seats, the super majority has been virtually achieved.
Abe took the win as a sign of public approval for his economic policies dubbed as Abenomics. “I think this means I am being told to accelerate Abenomics, so I want to respond to the expectations of the people,” Abe told TV reporters.
With the super majority obtained, the proposed constitutional reform of Article 9 of the Japanese constitution is now within reach. The said constitutional provision renounces war and imposes strict restrictions on the Japanese military. The rise of a more aggressive China and North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, has created security concerns for Japan. The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to give the Japanese military greater flexibility in addressing such security problems.
The issue, however, has been very divisive. LDP’s coalition partner Komeito has been cautious with the constitutional reform proposal. Komeito Party leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said that his party differed with the LDP when it came to the constitutional issue. Nonetheless, Komeito said that it was open to adding clauses to the charter but maintained that changes to Article 9 needed further scrutiny and debate.
