A controversial bill that would allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time since the Second World War has passed a key test in Tokyo’s parliament. A panel in the Upper House approved the measure, despite opposition lawmakers physically trying to prevent the vote in a chaotic scene telecast live on national television. The legislation has sparked huge protests from ordinary voters. The provisions, protesters say, violate the pacifist constitution adopted by Japan after its Second World War defeat seven decades ago. The reality though is that the world now is interconnected as never before and the conflicts now tend to be terrorist-group based.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has an Upper House majority, but opposition parties have vowed to prevent a vote by the full chamber before parliament disperses on September 27 — and they say they will use any tactic necessary to defeat the bill.
Sadly, these opposition members and protesters need to realise that participating in international actions against organisations such as Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) is a necessary duty. The world is an entirely different place since Japan was in ruins and was occupied when the ideals of its constitution were adopted. As a mature and economically successful nation, Japan must now take its rightful place on the global stage and that entails participation in internationally-sanctioned missions. The security bill should go ahead as Abe intends.
