'Falling Approval Ratings' Japanese Prime Minister Abe: "I Want to Hold a National Referendum on Constitutional Revision Within My Term by September Next Year"

Regarding Opposition Party's Objection: "Unanimous Agreement is Impossible... Going by Majority Vote"

Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan (Tokyo EPA=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has once again expressed his determination to revise the peace constitution during his term. Abe's term ends in September next year.

On the evening of the 20th, Abe appeared on the internet program AbemaTV and said, "With 1 year and 3 months left in my term as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, I want to somehow hold a national referendum (on constitutional revision) during my term."

In Japan's parliamentary system, the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party becomes the prime minister. Accordingly, Abe will step down from the prime minister position simultaneously when his term as LDP president ends in September next year.

Currently, discussions on the revision of the national referendum law related to constitutional amendment are stalled in the Japanese Diet's Constitutional Review Council due to opposition from opposition parties. Regarding this, Abe said, "It would be good if consensus could be reached by everyone in democracy," but added, "However, since that is difficult, I think decisions should be made by majority vote."

Regarding the dissolution of the House of Representatives for constitutional amendment discussions, he explained, "Politicians always live amidst some kind of struggle. I am always conscious of dissolution."

Meanwhile, since the national referendum law revision bill was not passed in the regular Diet session that ended on the 17th, the prevailing view is that constitutional revision during Abe's term is unlikely. Besides the passage of the national referendum law revision bill, it is practically impossible to complete the constitutional amendment process during his term, which includes submitting the original amendment proposal through ruling and opposition party consultations, initiating the proposal with the agreement of two-thirds or more of all members of both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, and holding a national referendum within 60 to 180 days after the proposal.

In particular, Abe's approval ratings have plummeted recently due to a series of scandals involving close aides. Following criticism over inadequate responses to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), controversies such as the "Mahjong scandal" involving former Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office Chief Hiromu Kurokawa and allegations of money-related election offenses involving former Justice Minister Tsukasa Akimoto and his spouse have arisen. Because of this, there is an assessment that Abe has lost the momentum to push for constitutional revision.

Nevertheless, some analysts believe that Abe's repeated expression of his determination to revise the constitution is intended to overcome the crisis by rallying constitutional revision supporters.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.