Constitutional Election

Ordinary election of House of Councillors was officially announced on Wednesday. 389 candidates ran for 121 vacant seats, a half of all seats in the House. No matter how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President of Liberal Democratic Party, insisted on his determination to improve Japanese economy, news media focused on whether the leading parties would obtain two-third majority for taking initiative to amend Constitution of Japan. This is constitutional election.

There are four parties in the House that are positive in amending the Constitution: LDP, Komeito, Osaka Restoration Party and Japanese Mind Cherishing Party. They occupy 84 seats that are not expired this summer. To obtain two-third majority, 162 seats, that are required to take initiative for national referendum for constitutional amendment, they need to get 78 seats in the election.

For main opposite parties, Democratic Party, Japan Communist Party, Social Democratic Party and People’s Life Party, deadly want to disturb it. Although they are not united for maintaining the Constitution as a whole, four parties held common goals of not changing Article 9 for renouncing war and abolishing new security legislation that was against traditional interpretation of the Constitution.

To intercept giving Abe administration two-third majority, those four parties agreed on having unusual cooperation in the election. Although JCP has been raising its own candidate in every electoral district, it refrained from competing with DP this time. DP decided to support JCP candidate in Kagawa district, which is highly unusual. As the result of strategic election cooperation, those four parties got successful in raising integrated candidate in each of 32 swing districts, which would determine the fate.

In the policy debate on Tuesday, Abe reluctantly admitted that constitutional amendment was one of the key issues of the election. “I didn’t say that constitutional amendment would not be the issue. It is not this election but national referendum that would decide how the provisions would be changed. The important thing is to calmly discuss the amendment in an article-by-article manner in Commissions on the Constitution of both Houses and ask conclusion in national referendum,” said Abe.

Leaders of the opposite parties consecutively expressed their firm resistance against the amendment under Abe administration. “Prime Minister has totally wrong recognition on constitutionalism. It is doubtful that he thinks the Constitution to be binding political power,” told DP President, Katsuya Okada. It is worth notable whether eligible voters will focus on the issue in their voting.