The executive board of the Social Democratic Party on Thursday approved the final draft of a declaration that will reverse its stance on the Self-Defense Forces to argue that their existence violates the Constitution.
The draft declaration, to be adopted at the small opposition party's Feb. 11-12 convention, stipulates that "under the current situation, it is clearly unconstitutional," a departure from its acceptance of the SDF since 1994.
The draft also calls for working toward an unarmed Japan and scrapping the SDF by reorganizing it into single-function entities instead, including border control, disaster relief and international cooperation.
Prior to 1994, the party had deemed the SDF unconstitutional. This stance was reversed when then leader Tomiichi Murayama became prime minister of an SDP coalition government with its long archrival, the Liberal Democratic Party.
The final draft of the document also demands the realignment, reduction and removal of U.S. military bases.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.