The parliament of the nation of Japan has voted to allow it’s gigantic military forces to go and fight overseas for the first time since the end of World War Two 70 years ago.
A vote on the new law was delayed for several hours as the opposition tried to stop the measure coming into force. Outside, demonstrators rallied in a last-ditch show of protest. Many Japanese are attached to the pacifist provisions in the constitution which banned fighting overseas. The bills have already passed through the government-dominated lower house.
The government says that the changes in defence policy are vital to meet new military challenges such as those posed from a rising China. It wanted to hold the vote before a five-day holiday begins on Saturday. The governing coalition has a majority in both chambers of the Diet, meaning that ultimately the opposition camp was powerless to stop the measure becoming law.
Masaaki Yamazaki, the president of the upper house, said the bills were passed with 148 lawmakers voting in support and 90 against. More than 200 hours have been spent deliberating the legislation, the Japan Times reported, and its approval by parliament fulfils one of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s long-held ambitions. On Thursday, opposition politicians tried to physically delay proceedings ahead of a committee vote on the bills.
Japan’s post-World War Two constitution bars it from using force to resolve international conflicts except in cases of self-defence. Abe’s government has pushed for security legislation that would allow Japan’s military to mobilise overseas when these three conditions are met:
When Japan is attacked, or when a close ally is attacked, and the result threatens Japan’s survival and poses a clear danger to peoplewhen there is no other appropriate means available to repel the attack and ensure Japan’s survival and protect its peopleuse of force is restricted to a necessary minimum The bills prompted large public protests for months.
The changes re-interpret rather than formally change the constitution. But critics state that this will violate the pacifist constitution and could lead Japan into unnecessary US-led wars abroad.
Tags: Japan
