No Discussion at Constitutional Commission

Commission on the Constitution in House of Representatives has not had a meeting so far, since current ordinary session was convoked January 26th. While it is usual that the commission has a meeting every Thursday during the session of the Diet, the opposition parties have been refusing any discussion, because the members from ruling Liberal Democratic Party include some lawmakers involved in the slush fund scandal. It is unclear whether Prime Minister Fumio Kishida implement his promise to amend the Constitution within his term which is going to expire this fall.

The head of the commission affiliated to LDP, Eisuke Mori, set a meeting on March 20th by the ranking members of the leading and the opposition parties for discussing procedure of the commission. The ranking member from Constitutional Democratic Party, Seiji Osaka, refused to attend the meeting, opposing Mori’s unilateral decision to set the meeting.

 

CDP and other opposition parties criticize five members of the commission, who were included on the list of the lawmakers involved in receiving secret political fund from LDP factions. Although the opposition parties demanded those five lawmakers to attend the Deliberative Council on Political Ethics to explain about the scandal, LDP has not accepted it. The opposition parties argue that explanation about the scandal needs to be done before they discuss the constitution. The constitutional commission needs an agreement of both sides of the aisle to have a regular meeting.

 

The leading parties hoped to have the meeting, because the House passed the budget bill for FY 2024, which required intensive discussion on the scandal and other important political issues. CDP replaced its representative for the commission after the end of last Diet session from moderate type of lawmaker to Osaka, who is recognized as a hardliner against constitutional amendment. Osaka is deputy head of CDP.

 

Kishida raised constitutional amendment as his one of the important policies in LDP presidential election 2021 and has been reiterating that he would achieve it during his term as the prime minister. “I am going to promote to make a draft of provisions for constitutional amendment and accelerate the discussion beyond the party line, with my wish for achieving it within my term,” Kishida said in his speech at LDP National Convention on March 17th.

 

However, Kishida has gradually been changed the stance of constitutional amendment from political promise to his “wish” after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died and the voices for the issue became losing its momentum. Kishida had not been an outstanding advocate for constitutional amendment before he made a prime minister. It is likely that constitutional amendment is a political tool for Kishida to unite LDP with support of the conservatives in the party, if he is not so active in implementing the promise.

 

To achieve the amendment by September, the Diet needs to initiate a draft and announce a referendum sixty days before the voting of national referendum, which means as early as July. Considering political agenda later this year, including deciding penalties on LDP lawmakers involved in the scandal or state visit to the United States, schedule for constitution amendment is tight.

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