With Shinzo Abe having called Japan's current Constitution "pathetic" (mittomonai) just a few days before taking charge of a government established under it, constitutional amendment seems likely to be on the agenda of his second go as prime minister. This should not surprise anyone, since "fixing" the charter tainted with America and defeat has been a goal of conservatives since Japan regained its independence in 1952.
Despite controlling the levers of power for most of the period since, however, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that Abe now heads has never been able to achieve the high threshold for initiating the amendment process: the approval of two-thirds of the members of both Diet houses. But now, having just obtained such a majority in the December House of Representatives elections, and with half the seats of the House of Councillors up for grabs this summer, constitutional change may finally be in reach of the LDP and its allies.
The LDP issued a comprehensive amendment proposal in April of last year, but Abe says he first wants to just tweak Article 96, which sets forth the amendment process. According to Abe, unless the threshold for amendment is lowered to a simple majority of both houses, even just "debating" change is impossible.
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