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A PARLIAMENTARY committee approved controversial legislation yesterday to allow military forces to be deployed overseas, despite protests.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s governing coalition forced the vote through the committee despite strong opposition from voters and opposition MPs.
The legislation would “fundamentally change the way Japan has sought pacifism since the end of the war,” said Democratic Party of Japan MP Kiyomi Tsujimoto. “The existence of our constitution is threatened, the sovereignty-of-the-people principle is threatened and our democracy is being threatened.”
MPs rushed the podium and began to slap and grab at committee chairman Yasukazu Hamada as he cut off debate and began the voting process.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people protested outside parliament, chanting anti-war slogans. Some held up posters reading: “No to a forced vote!” and “No to Abe politics!”
The Bills “reinterpret” Japan’s post-war constitution, which only permitted the nation’s military forces to be used in self-defence.
If passed, the legislation would also allow Japan to defend allies from aggression in “collective self-defence.”
Polls show that about 80 per cent of Japanese oppose the legislation and the majority consider it unconstitutional.
- The Mitsubishi corporation will apologise at an event in California this weekend to US prisoners it used as forced labour during World War II.
