Since returning to office in December 2012, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (pictured right) has enjoyed approval ratings of 70 per cent.
Abe may soon try to use his popularity to revise the Japanese Constitution. While the foreign media frequently report on his long-held ambition to revise Article 9 (the so-called peace clause), less well known are his plans to amend clauses upholding human rights, gender equality and civil liberties.
As a first move, Abe is proposing to make it easier to amend the Constitution by easing the requirements from a two-thirds to a simple majority in the two chambers of parliament, followed by a referendum.
If he is successful, he will be free to present his full draft of amendments, including changes to Article 9, which outlaws the maintaining of military forces and the use of war to settle international disputes. In reality, Article 9 places no constraints on the capabilities of the Self Defence Forces – the de facto military – to defend Japan, and this flexible interpretation has allowed Japan to meet its changing security needs. So amending the peace clause is unnecessary – and will only exacerbate tensions within East Asia.
Abe’s draft constitution not only turns its back on Japan’s commitment to peace, it also undermines protection for individual rights. It deletes Article 97, which upholds the concept of universal human rights, which it states should be ‘for all time inviolate’. Abe rejects universalism, arguing that human rights should reflect the unique history, culture and traditions of Japan.
The new draft also prioritizes public order over individual liberties and inserts the provision in Article 12 that the people ‘must be aware that duties and obligations accompany rights and freedoms and shall never violate the public interest or public order.’ This amendment has ominous implications for the right to protest.
The new constitution would also make it compulsory for citizens to respect the flag, national anthem and Constitution. And a new duty that ‘no person shall improperly acquire, possess or use information concerning individuals’ could be used for democracy-limiting government regulation of the media.
Despite Abe’s 70-per-cent approval rating, only 31 per cent of Japanese voters support revising the constitution. But voter antipathy may not be enough to prevent him achieving his constitutional agenda, as there is no minimum referendum turnout requirement and voter disengagement is high.
One can only hope that Abe’s planned assault on democratic rights and freedoms will inspire voters to use those freedoms in defence of their constitution.
