Takahiro Yokomichi, chairman of the Executive Council of the Democratic Party of Japan, formally announced his candidacy in the party's presidential race Tuesday, saying he will make the war-renouncing Constitution one of the main focuses of campaign debate.
"I've decided to run for the DPJ leadership race this September," Yokomichi said in a press conference in Tokyo, after attending a meeting of former socialist Diet members supporting him.
Yokomichi stressed that there is no need to revise Article 9 of the Constitution, which bans the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes.
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