Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has given a nod to a Liberal Democratic Party plan to revise Article 9 of the Constitution to permit the nation to officially have a military for the purpose of self-defense, a member of the LDP drafting committee on constitutional amendments said Tuesday.
The role of the military would be specified to deal with self-defense, international cooperation and contingencies through revision of the second clause of Article 9, which currently prohibits Japan from possessing military forces, despite of the existence of the Self-Defense Forces.
Koizumi was informed of the panel's proposed constitutional amendment, line by line, on Friday when he met at his official residence with former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who chairs the panel, and other panel members.
The prime minister had no objection to the plan, the panel member said.
Koizumi will preside over the LDP's 50th anniversary convention Nov. 22 at which the party is expected to endorse the panel's draft amendment.
The LDP is planning to stipulate each instance where the nation can exercise the right to collective defense, and possibly resort to force, in three separate basic laws pertaining to security, international cooperation and emergencies, which if passed would be subordinate to the Constitution.
Under the proposed amendment, the principle of the war-renouncing first clause of Article 9 would be retained but may be reworded, the panel member said.
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