Japan Institute for National Fundamentals

The Japanese National Diet ended an extraordinary session on December 5 without revising this time again the National Referendum Act that provides for constitutional amendment procedures even though the revision was one of the biggest pending issues.

LDP unable to pass even a procedural bill

The House of Representatives managed to convene the Commission on the Constitution to begin a “free discussion” about the National Referendum Act revision bill but fell short of passing the bill, which stipulates only the expansion of voting stations and other technical matters in accordance with the revised Public Offices Election Law. An agreement on the National Referendum Act revision has already been reached between ruling and opposition parties. Nevertheless, the bill has been left untouched through eight Diet sessions since its submission in 2018.

Just before the commission ended a meeting on November 26, Japan Innovation Party lawmaker Nobuyuki Baba proposed an urgent motion to cloture the discussion and vote on the bill. But the motion failed. The National Democratic Party supported the bill, paving the way for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to pass the bill in cooperation with the two opposition parties. Nevertheless, the ruling party cowardly couldn’t decide to bring the bill to a vote.

Meanwhile, the House of Councilors Commission on the Constitution has never had any substantial deliberation on the bill. Japan Innovation Party lawmaker Shigefumi Matsuzawa submitted a no-confidence motion against the commission’s chairman Yoshimasa Hayashi from the LDP, attributing the absence of substantial deliberations on the bill for nearly three years to the lack of the chairman’s leadership and decisiveness. Regrettably, the motion was voted down. If Hayashi has no hustle to pass the bill, he should be replaced promptly.

Enough of excuses

Unlike its predecessor, the Constitution Research Council, the Commission on the Constitution at each of the two Diet chambers has important responsibility of drafting constitutional amendments. That is why its rules stipulate that the commission makes a decision by a majority of votes by attending members. Commission seats are allocated to parliamentary groups in proportion to their respective shares of chamber seats.

As the agreement on the revision of the National Referendum Act has already been reached between ruling and opposition parties, only a vote is left. Nevertheless, the LDP has refrained from bringing the bill to a vote, citing various excuses.

One excuse is that if the LDP were to “forcibly” pass the bill, it would invite opposition parties to boycott deliberations on other important bills. This means that the LDP cannot decide to bring the bill to a vote because other important bills are taken hostage. But are there many bills that are more important than the National Referendum Act revision bill for the LDP that has advocated constitutional amendments as the party’s cause? Being tired of hearing the excuse reiterated by the ruling party, I have no choice but to ask such question.

It seems that another excuse is the absence of an agreement between ruling and opposition parties. Any agreement might be better than no agreement. However, we cannot expect the LDP to reach agreement with the Japanese Communist Party that opposes the convening itself of the Commission on the Constitution or with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan that is eager to avoid displeasing the JCP. How long will the LDP cling to an illusion?

The third excuse may be that the forcible passage of the bill would come under fire from voters, leading constitutional amendments to be rejected in a national referendum. However, I question why bringing the bill to a vote according to the rules of the commission would be taken as the forcible passage of the bill. Pending now is a revision to the National Reference Act, rather than future constitutional amendments. Why is the LDP afraid of angering voters now?

On December 1, top officials of the LDP and the Constitutional Democratic Party virtually agreed to bring the National Referendum Act revision to a vote at an ordinary Diet session next year. Coming after the revision’s passage will be the preparation of constitutional amendment drafts. A crucial stage is coming for the LDP to prove its merits.

Akira Momochi is a director of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals and a special professor at Kokushikan University.